SquirrelTriviaT
Home

Did you know?

A newborn eastern grey squirrel weighs 11 to 13 grams, about the same as 2 U.S. quarters.

In the United States, squirrels have been known to gather in the thousands and migrate.  Witness's have seen this in the 1800's and in this century.  The reason is not known.

An adult flying squirrel has problems maintaining correct body temperature in cold weather. As many as 30 flying squirrels have been found together in a nest in winter.

Members of the squirrel family are found in every country in the world except for Australia, Madagascar and the polar regions.

A squirrel does not keep his/her teeth worn down solely by gnawing on wood and hard nuts.  The teeth are also worn down by constantly grinding them together, even while sleeping.

A squirrel was videotaped crawling into a candy machine through the opening where the candy is dispensed. A moment or so later the squirrel emerged with a candy bar still in the wrapper and ran across the parking lot. The suspect was last seen underneath a parked car still holding the evidence.

A baby squirrel consumes approximately 20 percent of it's own body weight in mother's milk in a 24 hour period.

The orange colored stains you see on a squirrels front teeth are not from the foods it eats.  The "stain" is a protective coating that occurs naturally to strengthen the teeth.

The grey squirrel is not native to England.  Grey squirrels were first introduced to England in 1776 by Ben Franklin and have managed to reach population levels that exceed the native red squirrel.  Trees in England have also been affected  by the grey squirrels stripping bark for food and nesting material.

Squirrels are very adept swimmers, crossing lakes and rivers with ease.

Ernest Thompson Seton, the man that helped start the Boy Scouts of America in 1910, was a squirrel aficianado who observed squirrels in the wild and wrote about them in his books.

The scientific genus name for squirrel is Sciurus which literally translates to "shadetail".   This name aptly describes the way the tail is held over the head.

Grey squirrels have two birthing seasons a year, but each mother normally has only one litter per year.  Average litter size is 3.   There has been verified cases of 6 babys in a litter.

According to fossil records, squirrels have been on earth for over 11 million years.  Squirrels as we recognize them have been around for about 3 million years.

One of the largest squirrels is the Ratufa which can grow to up to 3 feet in length.  The Ratufa can jump 20 to 30 feet and is native to southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent to Nepal.

Squirrels have the unique ability to see above, below, and behind themselves without moving their head,but have trouble seeing straight ahead because of the position of their eyes.  This is why you see squirrels cock their head side to side before they leap.  They are triangulating where they will land.