2006-12-04 11:20:31 · 9 answers · asked by momsaysno23 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Squirrels are getting ready for winter. They are looking for nuts and seeds, digging holes or finding crevices in tree trunks. That's where they store the food they'll need during the coming months, when the weather is cold and snowy.
Eastern gray, fox, and red squirrels are some of the most common squirrels in many parts of the country. Eastern gray squirrels also can be black. Fox squirrels are brown to reddish brown. They are the biggest and bushiest of this group. Red squirrels tend to be the smallest.
Red Squirrel
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Fox Squirrel
Squirrels spend a lot of time in trees, which are like restaurants for them. Among their favorite things to eat are nuts and other parts of tree, like tender buds. Red squirrels prefer eating pine cones and nuts. Squirrels may also eat corn, insects and other animals. And as anyone who has a bird feeder knows, squirrels love birdseed.
Gray, fox, and red squirrels stay active all winter, so they need a supply of food for energy. Gray and fox squirrels tend to bury food underground, piece by piece. Red squirrels may gather food into piles that they put at the base of trees or bury underground.
When they need the food, the squirrels use memory and smell to help them find what they buried. Sometimes, you'll even see them digging through the snow.
Squirrels make nests in trees, either in the branches or inside holes in the trunks. Some squirrels spend much of the winter in underground tunnels, where it's warmer.
Black Squirrel
California White
Ground Squirrel
Flying Squirrel
Ground Squirrel
When spring comes, squirrels switch their food preferences to new plant growth, like buds and leaves.
Sometimes they forget to dig up all the buried nuts. That's why you'll sometimes find a tree seedling growing in a place where no one planted it.
2006-12-04 12:27:13 · answer #1 · answered by gallagher g 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Squirrels prefer acorns low in tannins, as evidenced by the fact they bury more high-tannin acorns than low. Burying acorns in damp soil lowers their tannin level with time. The oak tree manufactures tannins for that reason...Both squirrel and oak benefit.
2016-06-30 02:45:18 · answer #2 · answered by mark_travis 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
even a blind squirrel will find a nut sometimes
2016-01-21 05:24:51 · answer #3 · answered by Rod 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They have to store them in a place they can get to in the winter. nuts don't grow in the winter, and they have to survive.
2006-12-04 13:18:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
in order to store them in a safe place. Buried under the ground, those nuts will remain fresh and without mold...
2006-12-04 11:58:10 · answer #5 · answered by Peter pan 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
storage thats why u see them digging around trying to find them they forget where they put some of them and thats how alot of oak trees get planted
2006-12-04 12:27:51 · answer #6 · answered by jim_beam3001 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are hoping that it will grow and then they will have many nuts.
2006-12-04 11:32:22 · answer #7 · answered by ♥ Cassie ♥ 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
they do that so they will have enough food for the winter.
2006-12-04 14:04:23 · answer #8 · answered by zach 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To get to the other side.
2006-12-04 11:48:55 · answer #9 · answered by Party Dan 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋