Tree squirrels are the members of thesquirrelfamily (Sciuridae) commonly just referred to as "squirrels". They include more than 100arboreal species native to all continents exceptAntarctica andOceania.[1][2][3][a]
They do not form a single natural, ormonophyletic, group; they are variously related to others in the squirrel family, includingground squirrels,flying squirrels,marmots, andchipmunks. The defining characteristic used to determine which species of Sciuridae are tree squirrels is dependent on theirhabitat rather than theirphysiology. Tree squirrels live mostly among trees, as opposed to those that live inburrows in the ground or among rocks. An exception is the flying squirrel that also makes its home in trees, but has a physiological distinction separating it from its tree squirrel cousins: special flaps of skin calledpatagia, acting as glider wings, which allowgliding flight.
The best-knowngenus of tree squirrels isSciurus, which includes theeastern gray squirrel of North America (introduced toGreat Britain in the 1870s),[4] thered squirrel of Eurasia, and the North Americanfox squirrel, among many others. Many tree squirrel species have adapted to human-altered environments such as ruralfarms, suburban backyards andurban parks.
Currenttaxonomy, based on genetic data, splits the tree squirrels into several subfamilies. The followinggenera of thesquirrel family are classified as tree squirrels.[3][5]
Squirrels are generally inquisitive and persistent animals. In residential neighborhoods, they are notorious for circumventing obstacles in order to eat frombird feeders. Although they are expert climbers, and primarilyarboreal, some species of squirrels also thrive inurban environments, where they have adapted to humans.
Squirrels have been kept as pets in Western society at least until the 19th century. Because of their small size and tame nature, they were especially popular with women and the clergy.[6]
Squirrels are sometimes consideredpests because of their propensity to chew on various edible and inedible objects, and their stubborn persistence in trying to get what they want. Their characteristic gnawing trait also aids in maintaining sharpteeth, and because their teeth grow continuously, prevents their over-growth. On occasion, squirrels will chew through plastic and even metal to get to the food.
Tree squirrels may bury food in the ground for later retrieval. Squirrels use their keen sense of smell to search for buried food, but can dig numerous holes in the process. This may become an annoyance togardeners with strict landscape requirements, especially when the garden contains edibles.
Homeowners in areas with a heavy squirrel population must be vigilant in keepingattics,basements, and sheds carefully sealed to prevent property damage caused by nesting squirrels.[7][8][9] A squirrel nest is called a "drey".
Squirrels are a seriousfire hazard when they break into buildings. They often treat exposed power cables as tree branches, and gnaw on theelectrical insulation. The resulting exposed conductors can short out, causing a fire. For this reason alone, squirrel nests inside buildings cannot be safely ignored. A squirrel nest will also cause problems with noise,excreta, unpleasant odors, and eventual structural damage.[7][9]
Some homeowners resort to more interesting ways of dealing with this problem, such as collecting and placing fur from pets such as domesticcats anddogs in attics. It is hoped that this fur would indicate to nesting squirrels that a potential predator roams, and will encourage evacuation. Odoriferous repellents, includingmothballs andammonia, are generally ineffective in expelling squirrels from buildings.[7]
Once established in a nest, squirrels ignore fakeowls andscarecrows, along with bright flashing lights, loud noises, andultrasonic orelectromagnetic devices. However, squirrels must leave the nest to obtain food and water (usually daily, except in bad weather), affording an opportunity to trap them or exclude them from re-entering.[7][9]
To discourage chewing on an object, it can be coated or covered with something to make it distasteful: for instance a soft cloth doused withchili pepper paste or powder.[10]Capsaicin and Ro-pel are other forms of repellent.[9] To remain effective, the coating must be reapplied regularly, especially if it is exposed to the weather.Poisoning squirrels can be problematic because of the risks to other animals or children in the building, and because the odor of a dead squirrel in an attic or wall cavity is very unpleasant and persistent.[7]
Trapping is often used to remove squirrels from residential structures.[11] Effective baits include fruit,peanut butter, nuts, seeds andvanilla extract.[12]
An alternative method is to wait until squirrels have left in search of food, and then close up all their access openings, or to install one-waytrap doors or a carefully angled pipe.[9] Attempting to get rid of all squirrels in a neighborhood is generally a futile goal; the focus instead should be on physically excluding them from places where they can do damage.[7] There are other humane techniques to remove squirrels from buildings, but removal is ineffective unless steps are taken to prevent them from immediately breaking in again.[7][8][13]
Squirrels are often the cause ofpower outages. They can readily climb a power pole and crawl or run along a power cable. The animals will climb onto powertransformers orcapacitors looking for food, or a place to cacheacorns. If they touch ahigh voltage conductor and agrounded portion of the enclosure at the same time, they areelectrocuted, and often cause ashort circuit that shuts down equipment. Squirrels have brought down the high-techNASDAQ stock market twice and were responsible for a spate of power outages at theUniversity of Alabama.[14][15][16] To sharpen their teeth, squirrels will often chew on tree branches or even the occasional live power line.[7] Rubber or plastic plates, or freely rotating sleeves ("squirrel guards") are sometimes used to discourage access to these facilities.[17][18]
Squirrels otherwise appear to be safe and pose almost zero risk of transmittingrabies.[19]
Squirrels cause economic losses to homeowners, nut growers, and forest managers in addition to damage to electric transmission lines. These losses include direct damage to property, repairs, lost revenue and public relations. While dollar costs of these losses are sometimes calculated for isolated incidents, there is no tracking system to determine the total extent of the losses.[20]
In regions where squirrels are plentiful, tire-flattenedroadkill is a common sight on roadways, especially in the spring and fall, when there is a fresh crop of young rodents. Motorists have caused serious accidents by attempting to swerve or stop to avoid a squirrel in the road.[21][22][23] Evasive maneuvers are difficult since squirrels are much more agile and have much quickerreaction times than motorists in heavy vehicles; the majority of vehicular encounters end with no harm to either party.[24]
An effort to mitigate these hazards to both squirrels and humans is theNutty Narrows Bridge inLongview, Washington, listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. It provides a way for squirrels to cross a busy street safely.
Tree squirrels are a common type ofurban wildlife.[25] They can be trained to be hand-fed, and will take as much food as is available because they cache the surplus. Squirrels living in parks andcampuses[26] in cities have learned that humans are typically a ready source of food, either deliberately or from careless disposal of surplus. Some people do "squirrel fishing" as a way of simultaneously playing with and feeding squirrels.
Humans commonly offer various nuts and seeds; however, wildlife rehabilitators in the field have noted that neither raw nor roastedpeanuts norsunflower seeds are healthy for squirrels, because they are deficient in several essential nutrients. This type of deficiency has been found to causemetabolic bone disease, a somewhat common ailment found in malnourished squirrels.[27][28][dubious –discuss]
Squirrels are sometimes hunted asgame animals, whether for their fur or as food. In theMiddle Ages thered squirrel was hunted for its blue-gray winter coat, traditionally calledvair, which now lends its name to aheraldic fur. The hairs from squirrel tails are prized infly fishing when tyingfishing flies.[citation needed]
In many areas of the US, squirrels are still hunted for food, as they were historically.[29][30][31][32][33] Recipes calling for squirrel even appear in cookbooks, includingJames Beard's American Cookery[34] and pre-1997 copies ofThe Joy of Cooking.[35][36] Squirrel meat can be substituted forrabbit orchicken in many recipes and was an ingredient in the original recipe forBrunswick stew, a popular dish in various parts of the Southern US.[37] Other similar stews were also based on squirrel meat, includingburgoo andSouthern Illinois chowder.
Although squirrel meat is low in fat content, unlike most game meat it has been found by theAmerican Heart Association to be high incholesterol.[38]
Squirrels Unlimited[39] host a World Championship Squirrel cook-off each year inBentonville, Arkansas.[40]
For most of the history of theUnited Kingdom, squirrel has been a meat not commonly eaten, and even scorned by many.[41] In the early 21st century however, the wild squirrel has become a more popular meat to cook with,[35] showing up in restaurants and shops more often inBritain as a fashionable alternative meat.[41][42][43] Specifically, Britons are cooking with the invasivegray squirrel, which is praised for its low fat content and the fact that it comes fromfree range sources.[35] Additionally, the novelty of a meat considered unusual or special has contributed to the spread of squirrel consumption.[41] Due to the difficulty of a clean kill and other factors, the majority of squirrel eaten in the UK is acquired from professionalhunters,trappers andgamekeepers.[41][42][43]
Some Britons are eating gray squirrel as a direct attempt to help the nativered squirrel, which has been dwindling since the 19th-century introduction of the gray squirrel, resulting in dramatichabitat loss for theindigenous red squirrels.[41][42][43] This factor was marketed by a national "Save Our Squirrels" campaign that used the slogan, "Save a red, eat a grey!"[41]
As with other wild game andfish species, the consumption of squirrels that have been exposed to high levels ofpollution ortoxic waste poses ahealth risk to humans. In 2007 in the northern New Jersey community ofRingwood, theNew Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services issued a warning to anyone who eats squirrel (especially children and those who are pregnant) to limit their consumption after alead-contaminated squirrel was found near theRingwood Mines Landfill.[44] Toxic waste had been illegally dumped at this location for many years, before authorities cracked down on this practice in the 1980s.[45]
In 1997, doctors inKentucky published a paper in theLancet that considered a possible association between the local tradition of consuming squirrel brains and five cases ofCreutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a rare but seriousprion-based disorder. The authors posed this as a mere possibility, unconfirmed by either post-mortem analysis of the patients'brain tissue, or identification of a contagious prion agent in squirrels. Nonetheless, theLancet article generated substantial media coverage, including articles in theNew Yorker andNew York Times.[36][46][47] A 2015 case of CJD in aPittsburgh man who had eaten squirrel brains played out similarly: the media seized on the patient's unconventional food choice, positing squirrel brains as the source of his disease.[48] The doctor who made the initial report later clarified that he had not meant to assert the squirrel meat was the cause.[49] Analysis of the patient's brain tissue ruled out the possibility of CJD acquired from food. As of 2018, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease had never been identified in squirrels, and the association between squirrel consumption and CJD remained speculative.[50]
The biggest source of food fortree squirrels istree nuts.Red squirrels store nuts in a single stash (amidden) that tends to dry out, so the seeds don't take root.Fox squirrels and gray squirrels bury nuts over a widespread area (scatterhoarding), and often forget them, resulting in new trees (mutualism).[51][52]
In theRamayana, an ancientSanskritepic poem, a squirrel assists in constructing a bridge from India toSri Lanka to helpRama rescue his wifeSita.[53] Rama rewards the squirrel by stroking his back with his three middle fingers, thus giving theIndian palm squirrel the three white stripes that appear on its back.[53] InNorse mythology, the squirrelRatatoskr is a messenger who scurries up and down the trunk of the world-treeYggdrasil, carrying malicious gossip and insults back and forth between the dragonNíðhöggr, who sits at the bottom of the tree gnawing on its roots, and the hawkVeðrfölnir, who sits at the top of the tree keeping watch.[54][53][55] According to Richard W. Thorington, Jr. and Katie E. Ferrell, this legend may have originated from the red squirrel's habit of giving a "scolding alarm call in response to danger", which some Norsemen may have imagined as insults.[53]
InIrish mythology, the goddessMedb is said to always have a bird perched on one shoulder and a squirrel on the other, serving as her messengers to the sky and the earth respectively.[55] In Europe during theMiddle Ages, squirrels were sometimes used inbestiaries as symbols of greed and avarice on account of their storing of nuts,[55] but, in the nineteenth century, British natural history books often praised them as thrifty for this same reason.[55] A myth told by theAinu people ofJapan holds that squirrels are the discarded sandals of the ancestral deity Aioina, possibly because squirrels move in spurts like footsteps.[55] TheKalevala, aFinnish epic poem collected in the nineteenth century but rooted in much olderoral tradition, contains references to squirrels, including mention of a white squirrel being born of a virgin.[53]
Literary references to squirrels include the works ofBeatrix Potter,Brian Jacques'Redwall series (including Jess Squirrel and numerous other squirrels), Pattertwig inC. S. Lewis'Prince Caspian, Michael Tod's Woodstock Saga of novels featuring squirrel communities in the style ofWatership Down, and the Starwife and her subjects fromRobin Jarvis's Deptford novels. The title character inMiriam Young's 1964 children's bookMiss Suzy is a squirrel.
Anthropomorphic red squirrels were used in British road safety campaigns between the 1950s and 1980s.[56]
An episode of the radio programThis American Life called "Squirrel Cop" describes the unintentionally humorous misadventure of a newly hired policeman in trying to remove a frantic squirrel from a homeowner's living room, which results in personal injury and a small fire.[57] First aired in 1998,[58] this episode turned out to be one of the most popular ones of the series,[59] prompting rebroadcasts and a lead position on the two-CD compilationCrimebusters + Crossed Wires: Stories from This American Life.
One of the ways that squirrels affect human society is inspired by the fascination that people seem to have over local populations of white squirrels (often misidentified as being albino).[60] This manifests itself by the creation ofsocial groupcommunities that form from a commonly shared interest in these rare animals. Other impacts on human society inspired by white squirrels include the creation of organizations that seek to protect them fromhuman predation, and the use of the white squirrel image as acultural icon.
Although these squirrels are commonly referred to as "albinos", most of them are likely non-albino squirrels that exhibit a rare white fur coloration known asleucism that is as a result of a recessive gene found within certain eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) populations, and so technically they ought to be referred to aswhite squirrels, instead ofalbino.[60][61]
A project run by Untamed Science is seeking to report and document the occurrence of both white squirrels, albinos, and otherpiebald morphs. Users are encouraged to submit their sightings.[62]
.jpg)
Olney, Illinois, known as the "White Squirrel Capital of the World", is home of the world's largest known white squirrel colony. These squirrels have the right of way on all streets in the town, with a $500 fine for hitting one. The Olney Police Department features the image of a white squirrel on its officers' uniform patches.[63]
Along with Olney, there are four other towns inNorth America that avidly compete with each other to be the official "Home of the White Squirrel", namely:Marionville, Missouri;Brevard, North Carolina;Exeter, Ontario; andKenton, Tennessee, each of which holds an annual white squirrel festival, among other things designed to promote their claim of "White Squirrel Capital".[64]
A list of white squirrel sightings around the world is maintained by the White Squirrel Research Institute, a group based in Brevard, North Carolina.[65]
Other towns that have reported white squirrel populations in North America (although not necessarily competing to be the "official" white squirrel capital) includeBowling Green, Kentucky;Columbia, Mississippi;[66]DeForest, Wisconsin;[67]Stratford, Connecticut;[68] and some of thesnowbelt cities in theWestern,Central andFinger Lakes regions of New York State (Buffalo,Rochester,Ithaca andSyracuse).[62] TheTrinity Bellwoods[69] neighborhood ofToronto, Ontario is locally known for white squirrel sightings.
In addition to the various towns that boast of their white squirrel populations, a number of university campuses in North America have white squirrels. TheUniversity of Texas at Austin is home to a white squirrel population which has spurred the myth of the albino squirrel as a good luck charm. There are many versions of the tale; one of the more popular versions is if one spots the albino squirrel before an exam, they will ace it.[61][70][71] TheUniversity of North Texas founded the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society in 2001, which has since acquired several "worldwide" chapters.[72] In 2006, the University of North Texas held a student referendum to name their white squirrel as the university's secondary mascot, but the vote was narrowly defeated by the student body.[73]University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire has a significant white squirrel population both on the campus and in other areas of the city ofEau Claire.Michigan Technological University inHoughton, Michigan is home to frequently sighted white squirrels that live on and around the campus.[74] AFacebook group dedicated to these squirrels, calledI've Seen the Albino Squirrel of Michigan Tech, was created for people to post photographs and anecdotes of their encounters with the white squirrels, and includes some stories from Michigan Tech alumni that recall seeing white squirrels in Houghton dating back to the 1930s.
In Kentucky, theUniversity of Louisville has established its own chapter of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society, which maintains contact with its members and interested parties through a Facebook group by that name. The university has an open policy to give away a free t-shirt to anyone who takes a photograph of a white squirrel on campus grounds and brings it to the administration offices.[75]
Other university campuses that have albino squirrel populations includeOberlin College in Ohio,[76]Ohio State University inColumbus, Ohio,[77]Western Kentucky University inBowling Green, Kentucky (which has had a population of albino squirrels since the 1960s),[60] andYoungstown State University inYoungstown, Ohio.[citation needed]
Michael Stokes, a biology professor at Western Kentucky University, commented that the probable cause for the abundance of white squirrels on university campuses was because they were originally introduced by someone: "We're not sure how they got here, but I'll tell you how it usually happens...When you see them, especially around a college campus or parks, somebody brought them in because they thought it would be neat to have white squirrels around."[60]
Albert Meier, another biology professor at Western Kentucky University, added that: "... white squirrels rarely survive in the wild because they can't easily hide. But on a college campus, they are less likely to be consumed by other animals."[60]
A story in which aNāgashapeshifts into a white or albino squirrel, is killed by a hunter, and is magically transformed into meat equal to 8,000cartloads figures prominently in thefolklore ofrocket festivaltraditions and the origin ofNong Han Kumphawapi Lake inNortheast Thailand.[78]
A decline of thered squirrel and the rise of theeastern gray squirrel, anintroduced species from North America, has been widely remarked upon in British popular culture. It is mostly regarded as the invading greys driving out the native red species.[79] Evidence also shows that grey squirrels are vectors of thesquirrel parapoxvirus for which no vaccine is currently available, and which is deadly to red squirrels but does not seem to affect the non-native host.[80]
Currently,[when?] the red squirrel's range has been reduced to theconiferous forests in Scotland, and in England'sFormby, theLake District,Brownsea Island, and theIsle of Wight. The majority of England's red squirrels are found in the county ofNorthumberland. Special measures are in place to contain and remove any infiltration of grey squirrels into these areas. Though the population has dramatically decreased, they remain listed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern.[citation needed]
As of 2008, the eastern gray squirrel was regarded asvermin and it was illegal to release any into the wild; any caught could be released only if one applied for and was granted a licence to do so.[81] As of 2015, any caught in Scotland had to be humanely killed.[82]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The squirrel, which Lensing described as pure white with pink eyes, is a rare albino. About 1 in 100,000 squirrels in the state are thought to be albino, said Kristen Anchor, coordinator of Dane County Humane Society.
...albino squirrels also frequent the park.
If you spot one of the unique albino squirrels on your campus visit and take a photo, you can receive a great prize!
Since the death of Whitey, a Facebook group titled, "In Memory of Whitey the Albino Squirrel," has been created to commemorate the life and death of the beloved south campus celebrity.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)