Fox Squirrel: Builder of cozy dens and comfy dreys

Squirrels can be busy little fellas, living out their lives running around gathering and hoarding food, mating and raising young.

During the snow storm last weekend I watched a busy Fox squirrel as he raided the suet block at our bird feeder. He would quickly eat, hesitate, looking around to see if there were any intruders and then continue with his feast.

The Fox squirrel is named for its gray and red colored fur that resembles the pelt of a Fox. He makes three kinds of houses: cozy den nests in hollows of over mature trees with holes from rot or woodpeckers, comfy winter dreys (nests) and summer dreys.

Den trees, when available, are used in the winter and are the preferred shelter because the survival rate for squirrel pups is higher in tree dens compared to leaf nests. Due to lack of access in some areas where the den trees aren’t available, the fox squirrel must make winter dreys for the raising of their young.

About thirty feet up, at a major fork in the tree, they build a roughly ball shaped structure over a foot or two in diameter with one entrance. The watertight outside is composed of twigs, pine needles, or leaves. The inside cavity is six to eight inches in diameter and can be lined with feathers, fur, grass, leaves, moss, shredded bark, etc. any organic material that adds insulation.

Trees selected are usually close together as part of a windbreak, safe travel to other trees and to give easy exit in case of predators. Summer dreys are also located in the upper third of mature trees about thirty feet up, but are not so elaborate in construction — sometimes they’re just open platforms used for resting or eating.

The Fox squirrel is the largest (2 – 3 lb. weight, 18 – 29 in. length) tree squirrel in North America and has short, rounded ears. It has a stubby neck as compared to the gray squirrel.

A fox squirrel’s tail is long, very bushy, and has yellow tips on its tail hairs. The tail can be used for a variety of functions. It can be wrapped around the squirrel for warmth, used as an aid for balance, or spread and used as a parachute. The tail is also used to communicate with other squirrels. It can indicate being playful or, when exhibiting quick, jerky movements, can demonstrate nervousness or excitement.

A fox squirrel’s range can be ten to forty acres and with overlapping territories of different squirrels. They sometimes share stores and nests in winter. Their main diet consists of left over mast or pine nuts in the spring, seeds of elms, maple, and pine in the summer, and acorns in the fall and winter, but they will also eat berries, bird eggs, bulbs, buds, certain flowers, frogs, fruit, green shoots, inner bark, insects, mushrooms, nuts, roots, seeds, and vegetables.

A fox squirrel may drink water on occasion but the majority of moisture they receive is through succulent plants that they eat.

When acorns or pine nuts are available, fox squirrels are very busy harvesting as many as they can find and storing them by burying them in the ground. Many acorns and nuts are infested with bugs and will not store well. These infested seeds are detected by the squirrel’s keen sense of smell and thrown away or eaten right away. The ones that are clear of bugs are selected for storage. The squirrel will clean the seed by licking it or rubbing it against its face, which also places a smell from its scent glands on the seed. After picking a spot, they dig a hole with their front paws, push the seeds in and quickly cover it up.

Later, for a meal in the winter, the squirrel will locate them even through the snow using their keen nose.

They are not particularly gregarious or playful. In fact, they have been described as solitary and antisocial 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 chucking together can make a small ruckus. When threatening another fox squirrel, they will stand upright with their tail over their back and flick it.

As I watched the red coated bird seed bandit leave the feeder to go back to his home, I was amazed how he would climb from branch to branch and leap from tree to tree almost effortlessly. Fox squirrels are impressive jumpers and can make jumps spanning fifteen feet in horizontal leaps and free-falling twenty feet or more to a soft landing on a limb or trunk.

Discover Boundary County wildlife. Enjoy the outdoors!

Information go to www.naturallynorthidaho.com