Hi, I live in Turner Valley, AB and this year there has been lots of very interesting red squirrel activity in our yard which I enjoy very much. I don’t really like the red squirrels, and they don’t seem to like my nuts. Did the red squirrels gentrify the area, did groundhogs do it, or something else? Now oddly enough, only chipmunks stick around, just one of them can have 3 handfuls of nuts in its mouth in 45 seconds. 2 Groundhogs moved in this spring near the road, but that’s a hundred feet away. I know these are likely newborn litters, however they have pushed all the grey squirrels away. They are super territorial, despite being the size of large house mice, and there’s always at least 5-6 together at once. While I’ve spotted a handful who live here, this year a group of red squirrels have been living in a tree closest to my place. I loved feeding pistachios to the greys (although 85% of them around here are jet black) and they used to come up from different litters and territories to eat quite peacefully. Living on an elevated first floor my balcony gives me access to feed the squirrels for 3 years now. The critters around here have a nice fenced-in space between a condominium and the road. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, in a constantly expanding suburban area. Swainson’s Hawks: Migration and Colouration.Waxwings in Alberta: Differentiation & How We Can Help!.If you happen to see a red squirrel – or any injured wild animal, for that matter – that’s injured or abandoned, please contact AIWC at 40 for assistance. With a tail that measures to be about half the size of an average red squirrel (six and 12 inches, respectively), half of the animal’s body’s length is devoted to helping it keep balance and intimidating other squirrels. There’s a reason why a red squirrel’s tail is so big and bushy: when it’s not being flicked around to intimidate a rival, the tail of a red squirrel is primarily used for balance as the animal jumps from tree to tree in wooded areas.Though these actions may seem adorable to us as onlookers, it can mean that things are getting heated in a squirrel argument. Red squirrels are feisty and territorial towards intruders, and confrontation between two red squirrels often entails a lot of tail flicking, chattering, and foot stomping.Before storing mushrooms that they’ve foraged, red squirrels have been known to lay them out to dry on tree branches. Using tree cavities, underbrush piles, or dens as their own pantries, red squirrels can ensure that the food they’ve gathered for the winter will be kept safely and out of the way of trespassers. Red squirrels have a firm grasp on food storage.But, by definition, red squirrels are omnivores, and their diets extend to include flowers, berries, mushrooms, bugs, mice, eggs, and small birds. ![]() True, their main source of nutrition comes from some nuts and the seeds from pine cones. While we all imagine squirrels munching merrily on nuts or acorns, the red squirrel’s diet is much more varied than those singular items.If you spot a red squirrel hurrying about during the fall, it’s likely because he’s on a mission to prepare for the upcoming cold months by collecting and storing food for future consumption. ![]()
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