Squirrel Jigsaw Puzzle

Interesting Facts about Squirrels

Baby squirrels are born blind and only weigh one ounce at birth. They begin to develop the first out-standing hairs of their fluffy tails at the age of around three and a half to four weeks old. The long tails of tree squirrels are used for balance when jumping around branches. They will also use their tails to shade themselves from the sun on hot days, as an umbrella when it rains, and to cover themselves up to keep warm when it's cold. In addition, they'll use their tails to communicate with other squirrels. Chirps are another means of communication used, as well as scent-marking. Their sweat glands, which help with the scent-marking, are located on their feet.

Tree squirrels can be speedy little critters, and have been timed travelling at 20 miles per hour. Ground squirrels can quickly dig underground dig tunnels. Their dextrous front paws, combined with their intelligence make them adept at opening containers to get to food inside.

Squirrels are mostly vegetarian but also east a few insects and other small creatures. In addition to their well-known liking for nuts, they'll also feed on birds eggs, fruits and fungi. They'll often place mushrooms in a tree to dry out and then cache them for winter. Other foods like nuts they'll bury in the ground to dig up and eat later. Squirrels actually act as good agricultural woodsmen as they forget where some of the nuts are buried. As a result, new trees will grow from those nuts, often placed at a good distance from the parent tree, thus enabling forests and woods to thrive and spread.