Including its 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) tail, the red squirrel is 11-14 inches (28-36 cm) in length. This small squirrel has reddish to reddish-gray fur on top and a white or cream underside. It has a white ring around its eyes. Its tail is not as long or bushy as the tail of other tree squirrels.
In the summer, the red squirrel may have a black stripe on its sides. Its curved front claws and powerful hind legs make it an excellent climber and jumper.
The red squirrel is found in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests.
The red squirrel eats a wide variety of foods, including insects, seeds, bark, nuts, fruits, mushrooms, and pine seeds or cones. Sometimes it eats young birds, mice, and rabbits. A large part of its diet is made up of pine seeds.
In the fall, the red squirrel cuts green pine cones from trees and stores them in the ground. It also stores nuts and seeds in piles known as middens under logs, at the base of trees, and underground. It doesn’t always find or eat all of the seeds and nuts it has stored. Because of this, the red squirrel fills an important niche in spreading seeds in the forest.
The red squirrel may migrate short distances when food supplies are low. The red squirrel also drinks tree sap from maple trees. It bites a tree until the sap flows out and returns to drink it after the water in the sap has evaporated.
Red squirrels mate in late winter. About a month after mating, the female has a litter of 3-7 babies. Red squirrel babies are called kits or kittens.
The kits are weaned after 7-8 weeks, and leave their mother when they are about 18 weeks old. In warmer climates, the red squirrel may mate in the late winter and in mid-summer.
The red squirrel has an average lifespan of 3-5 years in the wild.
The red squirrel is most active in the early morning and the late afternoon. It is a solitary animal, except for mothers and their young. The red squirrel makes its nest in a variety of places, including hollows in the ground, in tree hollows, logs, or crotches in trees.
The red squirrel is very vocal, and it chatters, growls, and screeches.
Support for NatureWorks Redesign is provided by:
The red squirrel is found across New Hampshire.
The red squirrel is found in most parts of Alaska and Canada. It is also found in the Rocky Mountain states and in the eastern United States south to northern Virginia, and west to Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
NHPBS inspires one million Granite Staters each month with engaging and trusted local and national programs on-air, online, in classrooms and in communities.
