Squirrels

A squirrel is a small or medium-sized rodent of the family Sciuridae. In the English-speaking world, it commonly refers to members of this family's genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels that have large bushy tails, and are indigenous to Europe, Asia and the Americas. Similar genera are found in Africa.

The Sciuridae family also include flying squirrels, as well as ground squirrels such as the chipmunks, prairie dogs, and woodchucks. Members of the unrelated family Anomaluridae are sometimes misleadingly referred to as "scaly-tailed flying squirrels".

 

 

Philology

The word squirrel, first attested in 1327, comes from the Old French ésqurial, which itself comes from the Vulgar Latin word scuriolus (squirrel), a variant of the Latin sciurus. Sciurus comes from the Greek word skiouros, a compound of skia (σκιά; "shadow") and oura (ούρά; "tail"). Skiouros might be liberally translated as "That which makes a shade with its tail",^[1] or "That which sits in the shadow of its tail". The verb form (meaning "to hide or store") is first recorded in 1939

Common squirrels include the Fox Squirrel (S.niger); the Western Gray Squirrel (S. griseus); the Douglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii); the American Red Squirrel T. hudsonicus; and the Eastern Gray Squirrel (S. carolinensis), of which the "Black Squirrel" is a variant.

 

 

Background

Unlike rabbits or deer, squirrels cannot digest cellulose and must rely on foods rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Early spring is the hardest time of year for squirrels, since buried nuts begin to sprout and are no longer available and new food sources have not become available yet. During these times squirrels rely heavily on the buds of trees, in particular, those of the Silver Maple. Squirrels are omnivores; they eat a wide variety of plant food, including nuts, seeds, pine cones, fruits, fungi, and green vegetation, and they also eat insects, eggs, and even small birds, smaller mammals, frogs, and carrion. In tropical areas, these foods often replace nuts.

Ground and tree squirrels are typically diurnal, while flying squirrels tend to be noctural -- except for lactating flying squirrels and their offspring, who have a period of diurnality during the summer.