![]() Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. What better way to enliven peaceful suburbia than with gravity-defying maniacal peewee squirrels imbued with the ferocity of Genghis Khan and the agility of Wayne Gretzky, moving at the speed of bullets. The American red squirrel is variously known as the pine squirrel, North American red squirrel and chickaree. My neighborhood, I believe, could benefit from additional red squirrels. After 2 to 3 months, the parents expel the youngsters from their home turf and they strike out on their own. Red squirrels are sometimes called pine squirrels or chickarees the gray squirrel is also known as the eastern gray squirrel. In only about 40 days, the kits go from blind, 7-gram, amorphous blobs to fully furred and active. When the female is suitably impressed, mating commences.Įventually, 4 or 5 tiny naked pink kits are born, and hopefully, in my case, that’ll be in the walnut tree den hole. This generally entails racing about at breathtaking speed, zipping through the branches and making death-defying leaps. Other animals regularly try to raid the caches, but the vigilant red squirrels soon run them off.Ĭome early spring, the reds become amorous and begin courtships. ![]() They draw upon these larders when food sources are lean. The tough little squirrels don’t hibernate, and create warehouses of food tucked in tree crevices and other niches. One possible explanation for this insanely aggressive behavior is the red squirrel’s need to defend numerous caches of cones, nuts, seeds and even mushrooms.
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