The Squirrel Station: Weekly Squirrel- the American Red Squirrel

The American Red Squirrel, Sitting in a Tree

This week's squirrel is... The American Red Squirrel(Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)!

The American Red Squirrel has many names. They have been called pine squirrels, North American red squirrels, boomers, chickarees, and fairydiddles (I don't understand that last one- hold on- apparently it's called a fairydiddle because in West Virginia the term fairy diddle refers to a near-mythic creature, and may be used for various woodland rodents. Most observers agree, however, that whatever the fairy diddle is, it is fast, smaller than the average tree squirrel, and makes a lot of noise if disturbed. This fits the description of the American Red Squirrel perfectly). The American Red Squirrel is one of the three types of tree squirrels that has a scientific name of Tamiasciurus. The others are the Douglas Squirrel and the Mearn's Squirrel. Those will be mentioned later in the Weekly Squirrels.

Description

The American Red Squirrel differs from the Eurasian Red Squirrel in that the Eurasian species is almost totally red, while the American species has more brown on it. It is also a lot smaller than most squirrels (Although it is larger than a Chipmunk). They have a bright red tail and white circles around their eyes.

Range

The American Red Squirrel's Range

The American Red Squirrel lives in the upper parts of North America and Canada. They are very abundant in their range, although there is a Subspecies in Arizona that has depleted rapidly and is now endangered.

Diet

The American Red Squirrels are known as Grainivores, meaning they eat mostly grain. One of their favorite foods is White Spruce seeds, but they also eat spruce buds and needles, mushrooms, willow leaves, poplar buds, catkins, and bearberry flowers and berries. When food is scarce, they may also eat bird eggs. White spruce cones are harvested by red squirrels in August and September. These harvested cones are stored in a central cache and provide energy and nutrients for survival over the winter and the following spring. The fallen scales from consumed seed cones can collect in piles, called middens, more than a meter across.

Behavior

An American Red Squirrel normally makes a nest out of grass in the branches of a tree. They may also make a nest in witches broom (abnormally dense undergrowth caused by rust disease), or hollows in the trunks of spruce, walnut, and poplar trees. They rarely make a nest below ground. Each American Red Squirrel has multiple nests in it's territory, and females with young move them around different nests.

An American Red Squirrel's litter typically has 2-4 baby squirrels in it. The babies are hairless, blind, and deaf. They usually get their fur and sight and hearing after about a month. They come out of the nest after around 42 days, and reach full size after 125 days. They leave the nest after 70 days.