Interesting facts about squirrels and flying squirrels

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

There are several types of animals that are well known to most urban and rural residents. These include a cute long-tailed animal - a squirrel.

It can be found in addition to the forest and in the city park, and even in the yard of any private sector.

Squirrel: description, habits

A surprisingly cute animal, very curious in its habits - this is a squirrel. Interesting facts about this animal are related to various moments of its life.

They are smart, agile and fast. They communicate with each other, as studies have shown, with the help of a squeak and certain movements of the tail. The hair on the tail can reach a length of up to 3 cm, which makes it appear fluffy.

The head of the squirrel is rounded, with black round eyes. Long ears with tassels at the top. The hind legs are slightly longer than the front. The fingers have sharp claws.

In summer, brownish and reddish colors predominate in the color of the animal, in winter - gray and black, with slight brownish hues.

The body length of the squirrel is from 12.5 to 28 centimeters, tail - from 19 to 30centimeters. A typical squirrel weighs approximately 300 grams.

It is precisely for its appearance and mischievous habits that the squirrel is one of the favorite animals of people.

Due to the fact that squirrels constantly grow their front 4 teeth, they must gnaw something all the time. In this way, they “grind down” overgrown teeth. If they grow too large, the squirrels will not be able to eat properly, since the teeth will not be able to prick. The fate of such squirrels ends with their death from starvation.

The most interesting facts about proteins are discussed below.

Types of proteins

There are about 200 species of squirrels around the world. They live on all continents except Australia and Antarctica.

These species are divided into three main groups:

tree squirrels building nests on trees;
earthen, nesting under stones in holes;
flying, one might say, living like birds, high in the trees.

Baby, feeding

A female squirrel has 2 to 8 babies. Baby squirrels are born blind, naked and deaf. After two weeks, the coat grows, and after another one, the eyes open. Babies are under the care of mothers for about 10-12 weeks, during which babies learn the rules of behavior.

Squirrels have a basic diet. These are nuts, seeds, berries, roots, bark, leaves, caterpillars, flowers, corn, and so on. Among all these types of food, seeds of coniferous plants predominate: pine, fir, spruce, Siberian cedar and larch.

Interesting facts about protein can be seenwatching them in the city park or in the garden.

Squirrels can also eat "animal" food, such as bird eggs, small rodents and lizards.

For the winter period, squirrels arrange food supplies for themselves and their offspring, but it often happens that they forget the location of many "warehouses". But many animals and birds are fed with stocks.

Squirrel living environment, housing

The common squirrel is a resident of the forest. Due to the fact that this animal usually feeds on tree seeds, it lives mainly in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests. They can also live in spruce forests, cedar forests, less often in deciduous forests and mixed pine forests.

Everywhere finds a way out of the position of the protein. Interesting facts about these animals can be supplemented by the fact that in the regions of the Caucasus and Crimea they even mastered vineyards and orchards.

The animal is very lively and agile, capable of deftly jumping from tree to tree with the help of a tail that serves as a rudder.

In winter, the common squirrel tries to move only along the tops of trees, where it hides in case of danger.

Territorial instinct in squirrels is rather weak, that is, there is no division of the territory into sections.

Shelters are built only on trees. In deciduous forests, the squirrel lives in a hollow, laying a soft bedding of leaves, grass and lichens. The nest is usually between five and thirty centimeters in diameter. An ordinary squirrel can take a standardbirdhouse.

Usually, the animal makes several nests and changes its shelter every couple of days. So he is saved from various parasites. The mother carries her babies from place to place in her teeth.

The most curious facts about proteins

The article has already mentioned interesting facts about proteins, but the following information is more curious and fascinating.

The name of the animal comes from the name of the coin "bela" in the form of animal skins. This type of money was introduced many centuries ago.
An ordinary squirrel can clean up to fifteen spruce cones and more than a hundred pine cones in one day. The weight of seeds extracted from one cone reaches only two tenths of a gram. In one day, a squirrel needs to eat more than a hundred cones.
It is curious that before hiding the mushrooms in the hollow, the animal first dries them on the branches.
The squirrel sheds twice a year, except for the tail. He only changes his coat once a year.

All of the above interesting facts about squirrels speak of the originality of this cute little animal. Consider another amazing view.

Flying squirrel: interesting facts

Flying squirrel - differs from the well-known squirrel in coat color. It has a beautiful silvery gray color. A long, very fluffy tail (about 14 cm) is the most important adaptation. She has no tufts in her ears. Huge eyes are black.

The body of the flying squirrel is flat, and there is a skin fold between the hind and front legs. It is a flight membrane that allows the flying squirrel to easily move between trees.

The squirrel's tail serves as a device that directs its movement. Accelerating well, she overcomes a distance of up to 100 meters in just one jump. Hence its name.

The flying squirrel is usually active at night and spends most of its life in trees. These unusual animals live in the northern and central strip of Russia. Outside the country, they are found in Northern Scandinavia, Mongolia, Finland, China and Korea.

Endless interesting facts about proteins. It is curious that in Eastern Siberia, campaigns of large groups of these animals were observed in search of food in the forests. Sometimes these masses of squirrels stretch for many kilometers. At the same time, even rivers do not stop them on the way, which they easily cross, funny with their lovely fluffy tails up.