Squirrels belong to the squirrel family, belong to the genus of rodents. Even a child can recognize this animal: it has an elongated body, a muzzle with ears in the form of a triangle and a huge fluffy tail.
Squirrel hair can be of different colors, from brown to red, and the belly is usually light, but in winter it becomes gray. It molts 2 times a year, in the middle or end of spring, and in autumn.
This is the most common rodent that can be found almost everywhere except Australia and Antarctica. They prefer evergreen or deciduous forests, but can live in lowlands and mountains.
They have 1-2 litters with an interval of 13 weeks. The litter can have from 3 to 10 cubs that weigh only 8 g. They begin to grow fur after 14 days. Their mother feeds milk for 40-50 days, and at 8-10 weeks, babies become adults.
If you like these animals, then these 10 most interesting facts about proteins are worth exploring.
10. Selected about 30 species
The genus Sciurus includes about 30 specieswho live in Asia, America, Europe. But in addition to these animals, proteins are also called other representatives of the squirrel family, for example, red squirrels, palm squirrels. These include Persian, Fiery, Yellow-throated, Red-tailed, Japanese and many other proteins.
9. There are about 50 million years
The order of rodents, to which the squirrels belong, totals about 2 thousand species, its representatives live all over the world. The oldest representative of this order is Acritoparamys, which inhabited North America 70 million years ago. It is the ancestor of all rodents on the planet.
And 50 million years ago, in the Eocene, lived the representatives of the genus Paramys, which in their appearance resembled a squirrel. The appearance of these animals was completely restored, they had all the main signs of this rodent. But speaking of a direct ancestor, these are representatives of the genus Protoscirius, which formed 40 million. It was then that Iscbyromyides moved to the new Sciurides family, to which the protein belongs.
Protoscirius already had the perfect structure of the skeleton and bones of the middle ear, as in modern animals, but so far they have been with primitive teeth.
8. Only common squirrel is found in Russia
In the fauna of our country there is only ordinary squirrel. She chooses for life the forests of the European part, as well as the Far East and Siberia, and in 1923 she moved to Kamchatka.
This is a small animal, grows up to 20-28 cm, with a huge tail, weighs less than 0.5 kg (250-340 g). Summer fur is short and sparse red or brown, winter is furry, tall, gray or black. About 40 subspecies of this protein are isolated. In Russia, you can meet the North European, Central Russian, Teleutk and others.
7. Considered omnivorous
Relate to omnivorous rodents, can eat different feeds, but the main food for them is the seeds of conifers. If they settle in deciduous forests, then they eat acorns or hazelnuts.
They can eat mushrooms, berries, eat tubers or rhizomes of plants, young branches or buds of trees, various herbs and lichens. They will not refuse fruits ripening in the forest. In total, they eat up to 130 different types of feed.
If the year turned out to be barren, they can migrate to other forests, for many kilometers, or switch to other food. They eat insects, and their larvae, can eat eggs or chicks.
For the winter, these smart animals store food. They bury it among the roots or in a hollow, on the branches of trees mushrooms are dried. Often squirrels cannot remember where their stocks lie; in winter they can find them by accident, if before that they were not eaten by birds or other rodents.
6. One animal is able to build 15 "nests"
Squirrels prefer to live in trees. Naturally, they also settle on trees. In deciduous forests they choose a hollow for themselves. Squirrels that settle in coniferous forests prefer to build a guinea. These are nests in the form of balls made of dry branches. Inside they line them with soft material.
Males never build nests, but prefer to occupy a female’s nest or settle in an empty bird house. A squirrel never lives in the same nest for a long time, changes it every 2-3 days. Most likely, it is necessary to escape from parasites. therefore one nest is not enough for her, she has several of them, up to 15 pieces.
A female usually transfers from a nest to another in her teeth. In winter, up to 3-6 squirrels can be collected in the nest, although they usually prefer loneliness.
In the cold season, he leaves the nest only for the sake of searching for food. If severe frosts and bad weather have begun, he prefers to spend this time in the nest, falling into a drowsy state.
5. Most of the time spent on trees
Squirrels prefer to stay alone. They spend most of their lives in trees, jumping from one to another.. In length, she can cover a distance of several meters, which is very much, given the size of her body. Down she can jump over long distances, up to 15 m.
Occasionally it can go down to the ground, for food or stocks made, it also moves in leaps up to 1 m long. It comes down from trees in summer, and prefers not to do this in winter.
Squirrel is able to instantly climb trees, clinging with sharp claws to the bark of trees. She can fly with an arrow to the very top, moving in a spiral.
4. Nomadic lifestyle
Even in ancient chronicles it was mentioned that proteins can migrate. These massive relocations were caused by forest fires or drought, but more often than not, crop failure. These migrations begin in late summer or early fall.
Rodents rarely traveled far, choosing the nearest forest for life. But there were cases when they moved to 250-300 km.
Squirrels roam one by one, without forming flocks or clusters, if a natural obstacle does not come across the road. Many of them during such migrations die from cold and hunger, fall into the clutches of predators.
In addition to mass migrations, there are seasonal ones, as feed in the forests ripen sequentially, proteins follow this. Also at the end of summer - beginning of autumn young growth begins to settle, which leaves at considerable distances from the nest (70-350 km).
3. Tail - a real “steering wheel”
The tail of a squirrel is equal in length to the main part of its body; it is very long, fluffy and thick. She needs it, because It is a kind of helm when it jumps from branch to branch, and also acts as a parachute when it accidentally falls. With it, she can balance and move confidently on the very top of the tree. If a squirrel decides to rest or eat, it becomes a counterweight.
2. Great swim
Squirrels can swim, although they prefer not to.. But if such a need arises, for example, a flood or fire starts, they rush into the water and swim, trying to reach the shore. Crossing rivers, squirrels gather in schools, raise tails and overcome water barriers that have arisen. Some of them are drowning, the remaining safely reach the shore.
1. In antiquity, their skins acted as cash
Squirrel has always been considered a valuable fur-bearing animal. Often hunters, hunting in the taiga of the Urals and Siberia, hunted for it. The ancient Slavs were engaged in agriculture, hunting, as well as trade. Our ancestors sold furs, wax, honey, hemp. The most popular goods were used as money, most often skins of squirrel, sable. Pushnina paid taxes, tribute, concluded mutually beneficial transactions.