How do squirrels spend the winter?

Pine trees are very cute little animals. They have big furry tails and two big front teeth. They will hold pine cones and gnaw them. So, how do squirrels spend the winter?

How do squirrels spend the winter?

Squirrels store large amounts of winter food in their holes before winter. When it is cold, they take shelter from the cold in deep caves, and several squirrels share the same nest to maintain their body temperature. Wait until the weather is a little warmer, then go out and look for food.

What are the living habits of squirrels?

1. Feeding behavior

Squirrels spend 70% to 80% of their time foraging and tend to forage and store food in coniferous forests. In autumn squirrels store nuts on the ground and fungi on branches. Storing food in autumn is beneficial to squirrel overwintering and fertility in the following year. Squirrel food storage microhabitat selection and food storage retaking mechanism have been deeply studied, which has become the focus of squirrel ecology research in China.

2. Social behavior

Squirrels live alone most of the time. The community structure is based on the dominant sequences between the same sex and the sexes, and the dominant individuals are usually larger than other individuals. Hierarchical advantage is usually reflected only in the reproductive season. Squirrels smear trunks and branches with secretions from urine and mandibular glands to mark homerange. The family size of squirrels is related to habitat quality, season, sexual activity and food abundance. the family size varies greatly in different distribution areas, but usually the male family size is larger than the female, and the dominant individual family domain is larger than the secondary individual. In food-rich areas, there will be a small range of overlap.

3. Nesting behavior

Squirrels live in nests and can also make use of tree holes and bird nests. Each individual usually occupies 2 or 3 nests at the same time. Because the branches and leaves of Chinese fir trees are thicker than pine trees, squirrels usually choose to nest on Chinese fir trees in plantations. The problem of nest site selection in natural forest has not been reported. Most of the nests are built on branches 8-16m above the ground, near the trunk or at branch bifurcations, and can be divided into two types: rest nests used during the day and sleep nests used at night, usually spherical in diameter, about 30cm in diameter, and the outer layer is made of twigs, pine needles and leaves with an inner diameter of about 12~16cm, covered with soft materials such as moss, leaves, pine needles, hay and branch bark.

4. Reproductive behavior

The reproductive status of squirrels is closely related to the status of food acquisition. There can be two births a year, mating in February, March and July and August respectively, and the pregnancy period is about 38 to 39 days. The cubs were fed by female mice alone, and the lactation period was more than 10 weeks.

5. Migration and diffusion

Squirrels have no obvious migration, but have short-distance diffusion behavior, including outward diffusion from overwintering place and outward diffusion from birthplace. Local competition determines the research status and prospect diffusion distance of population squirrel ecology. Studies have shown that there are differences between sexes in the diffusion season, with most males spreading in spring and females usually spreading in autumn. The spread of female individuals is affected by food, while the spread of males depends on the distribution of females.

Although most squirrels do not hibernate, a small number of squirrels do.