Common squirrel is the only representative of the genus in the fauna of Russia. Veksha is another common name for the animal.
What the animal looks like
An ordinary squirrel is small in size - from 19 to 28 centimeters, 2/3 of this indicator is occupied by the tail. The wool covering the entire body of the animal is not the same in length. It is shorter on the back, abdomen and legs than on the tail. This makes him look much larger than his actual size. The tail plays an important role in jumping, which is the squirrel's main mode of locomotion.
On the rounded head of the animal are large eyes and long ears. In winter, brushes are clearly visible on them. The hind legs are much longer than the front. Flexible movable fingers are equipped with sharp and tenacious claws. This allows the squirrel to move freely along the trunks and branches of trees.
Fur color and quality
The condition of a squirrel's coat depends on many factors. The temperature regime has a great influence on the coat. In winter, the fur is longer, thicker and softer, while in summer it is short, sparse and morehard. As the weather changes, the color of the animal also changes. In the warm season, the fur can have shades of red or brown. With the advent of winter, the coat takes on shades of gray with the presence of black or brown. Naturalists and hunters have repeatedly described cases when they met squirrels that had a pure white or black color. In addition, the color of the tail may differ from the body of the animal. The variability of the color of the fur can be seen by looking at the photo of the squirrel.
It should also be mentioned that the quality of the animal's fur and its color depend on the habitat of the squirrel. Residents of the northern and southern latitudes are unlike each other in terms of coat color. Squirrels living in coniferous, deciduous or mixed forests differ among themselves. Shedding occurs twice a year - in spring and autumn. Its duration and intensity depend on the weather conditions and the quality of the food that the squirrels eat during this period. In good years, molting begins and ends earlier. In the absence of sufficient food, the process is extended for a longer period.
Food
Squirrel is an inhabitant of forests. The main food for the animal are the seeds of plants of tree species. The animal does not refuse berries, mushrooms, nuts, acorns. In lean years, squirrels feed on buds, lichens, bark of young shoots, needles, and herbaceous plants. Sometimes this can harm the vegetation of those places where the protein is bred a lot.
Squirrels love to eat eggs that they get from bird nests. An adult animal canhunt small-sized birds or their chicks. Mixed forests are considered the best habitat for the animal. It is here that throughout the year the squirrel finds the highest quality food for itself. In total, there are about 130 types of various feeds in the animal's diet.
Lifestyle
The squirrel lives in a hollow that it finds in a tree trunk. In addition, the animal does not refuse empty birdhouses, old bird nests. Therefore, living in the forest zone, squirrels are always provided not only with food, but also with a place to hide from danger and bad weather. At a favorable time, the animal actively moves, searching for food. In the snowless period, the veksha easily moves along the surface of the earth. In winter, the squirrel's nest remains free only when the animal goes out to feed. The rest of the time the animal spends in a safe shelter.
Squirrel easily moves along the branches of trees, jumping 3-4 meters in a straight line. When descending, it jumps to a distance of 10 - 15 meters. The tail helps to control such jumps.
Hollow squirrels
For the inhabitants of deciduous forests, the most reliable place where you can hide from bad weather and various dangers is a hollow. Squirrel carefully insulates it. She drags inside the shelter of dry leaves, soft grass, lichens.
The hollow of a squirrel is usually located at a height of 7 to 15 meters. This distance from the ground is the safest. Some types of squirrels equip their dwelling at a height of 4 - 6 meters. At the same heightthere is also a squirrel's nest, which she, if necessary, builds herself. The arrangement of "housing" is most often done by the female. The male does not build shelters, he uses old abandoned nests of birds or his relatives for shelter.
Knowing who lives in the hollow of an old tree in the forest, we can assume that a prudent squirrel must take care of building their own housing. After all, the neighborhood in a hollow with a marten, bees or other larger inhabitants may not always be pleasant for the animal.
Gaino
A squirrel's nest is called a gayn. This type of shelter is built by an animal from dry branches, branches, twigs. Clay or earth is used to give strength to the base of the structure. The parts used in construction are fastened together not only by weaving with each other, but also with the help of moss, bast, and bast. The choice of building material for a squirrel's house depends on the forest where it lives. Therefore, in their appearance, nests of squirrels living in different areas of habitat sometimes differ from each other.
After completion of construction, the Gaino has the shape of a ball with a diameter of 25 - 30 centimeters. In appearance, the nest resembles a basket with a lid. Most often nests are built by squirrels living in coniferous forests. The shelter is located in a fork in a tree trunk or among large branches of the crown. Choosing trees for building a nest, the squirrel prefers spruces. There are cases when squirrel nests were located in the immediate vicinity of the ground in the bushes.juniper. But the choice of such a place for shelter is very rare and happens only when the peace of the animal is not disturbed by humans or predatory animals.
Gaino, as the squirrel's nest is called, has two side exits. One of them necessarily faces the tree trunk on which the shelter is located. The animal uses this exit at the moment of danger. You can easily reach the crown along the trunk and hide from danger among the branches.
The interior of the nest is lined with a thick layer of insulation, which consists of its own wool, moss, dry soft grass, and bast. The walls of the gaine do not have slots and holes, except for the entrance ones. But if necessary, their animal can carefully close from the inside. In a cold winter, a squirrel's nest can accommodate up to five animals. However, such a settlement of animals is an exception. The squirrel likes to be the boss in his nest alone.
How the squirrel uses the nest
Veksha is very clean. She constantly takes care of the nest, corrects it, creates comfort in it. And this is no coincidence. It turns out that animals hide in nests not only from storms, hurricanes, blizzards and frost. They need this shelter to hide from the intense heat. In summer, when the weather is hot, squirrels can be seen in the forest only in the morning or evening. They spend the rest of the day in their secure hiding place.
The female uses Gaino, as the squirrel's nest is called, to breed. Young squirrels leave their mother's house only a few months after their birth.
How many nestsneed vexche
An interesting fact is that the squirrel lives in a hollow and at the same time can have several more nests suitable for shelter. Sometimes the number of nests in which the squirrel lives reaches up to fifteen. Two or three of them are the main ones, they are built with special care and accuracy. And the rest of the nests can be called spare. In them, the animal hides from predators and bad weather, if necessary, and at the same time the main nest is far from the animal's place of residence.
It is noticed that the squirrel passes from one nest to another in 2 - 3 days. It is believed that in this way she gets rid of parasites.
Care for offspring
A squirrel's nest for raising offspring is different from where she lives alone. The brood nest is large. The animal builds it with greater care and precision. Sometimes not one such nest is built, but two or three. The helpless young squirrels that have appeared are carried from place to place in their teeth.
Squirrel pantries
The life of a squirrel and its offspring depends on the quality of the feed. Its sufficient amount is especially important in the cold season. That is why in summer and autumn the animal puts excess food in pantries. These stocks will definitely be in demand in winter.
Pantries are arranged in hollows and tree roots, in minks. The squirrel hangs some of its stocks (for example, mushrooms) directly on the branches, without hiding them from prying eyes. But most oftenthe veksha tries to hide the food so that it is not visible to other inhabitants of the forest. For this, the squirrel straightens the moss with its paws, which it had to lift up to hide supplies. By doing so, she is trying to cover up her activities.
However, the Veksha quickly forgets about the location of their own pantries. Its reserves can be used by relatives or other inhabitants of the forest, especially those who live in a hollow where a pantry is arranged. But the squirrel itself, without hesitation, can feast on the preparations of any other animal. The main thing for her is to find such a pantry. Sometimes during a crop failure it happens that the stocks are very small. Storerooms are emptied already in late autumn or early winter. Starvation leads to mass death of squirrels.
In harsh winters, moving squirrels to city parks can be a real salvation for them. Living next to a person, animals can always find food for themselves. Animals quickly get used to the presence of people and are not at all afraid of them. Recently, cases have become more frequent when squirrels are tamed. In captivity, the animal will certainly live longer, especially if it is well cared for.
