Fox squirrels enjoying summer on the Kootenai River
Last week while walking beside a pond in a forested area by the Kootenai River, I came across a Fox squirrel busily eating seeds from a pine cone. He was so engaged dismantling the pine cone he barely took note of me. But after a few minutes he gathered his pine cone and scurried off to the safety of the forest and his favorite tree. The squirrel gave me a good scolding for disturbing him as he made his exit.
The Fox squirrel was kind enough to let me take a few pictures and observe him in his natural surroundings. Fox squirrels have excellent vision and a well-developed sense of hearing and smell. They use scent marking to communicate with other fox squirrels. Fox squirrels also have several sets of vibrissae, thick hairs or whiskers that are used as touch receptors to sense the environment. These are found above and below their eyes, on their chin and nose, and on each forearm. To help with climbing, they have sharp claws, developed extensors of digits and abdominal musculature.
HABITAT
Fox squirrels are most abundant in open forest stands with little understory vegetation; they are not found in stands with dense undergrowth. Ideal habitat is small stands of large trees interspersed with agricultural land. The size and spacing of pines are among the important features of fox squirrel habitat. Fox squirrel are often observed foraging on the ground several hundred yards from the nearest wooded area. They commonly occupy forest edge habitat.
Fox squirrels have two types of shelters: leaf nests and tree dens. They may have two tree cavity homes or a tree cavity and a leaf nest. Tree dens are preferred over leaf nests during the winter and for raising young. When den trees are scarce, leaf nests are used year-around. Leaf nests are built during the summer months in forks of deciduous trees about 30 feet above the ground. Fox squirrels use natural cavities and crotches as tree dens.
In general, the fox squirrel foods include tree buds, Insects, bulbs, roots, bird eggs, seeds of pines and spring-fruiting trees, and fungi. Agricultural crops such as corn. Soybeans, oats wheat, and fruit are also eaten when available.
BEHAVIOR
Fox squirrels are strictly diurnal, non-territorial, and spend more of their time on the ground than most other tree squirrels. They are still, however, agile climbers.
They are not particularly gregarious or playful, in fact they have been described as solitary and asocial creatures, coming together only in breeding season.
They have a large vocabulary, consisting most notably of an assortment of clucking and chucking sounds, not unlike some “game” birds, and they warn the listening world of approaching threats with distress screams. In the spring and fall, groups of fox squirrels clucking and clicking together can make a small ruckus. When threatening another fox squirrel, they will stand upright with their tail over their back and flick it.
They are impressive jumpers, easily spanning fifteen feet in horizontal leaps and free-falling twenty feet or more to a soft landing on a limb or trunk.
Female fox squirrels come into estrus in mid-December or early January then again in June. They normally produce two litters a year however yearling females may only produce one. Females become sexually mature at 10 to 11 months and usually produce their first litter when they are a year old. The average litter is three, but can vary according to season and food conditions.
The maximum life expectancy is typically 12 years for the female and 8 years for the males. Relatively few natural predators can regularly capture adult fox squirrels.
Of these predators, most only take fox squirrels opportunistically. Fox squirrel predators include: bobcats, foxes, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and dogs.
Enjoy the outdoors!
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