The common squirrel is the only representative of the genus in the fauna of Russia. Veksha is another common name for the animal.
What does an animal look like?
The common squirrel has small sizes - from 19 to 28 centimeters, 2/3 of this indicator is occupied by the tail. The coat covering the entire body of the animal is unequal in its length. On the back, abdomen and legs it is shorter than on the tail. From this, he looks much larger than his actual size. The tail plays an important role during jumping, which is the main mode of movement of the squirrel.
On the rounded head of the animal are large eyes and long ears. In winter, brushes are clearly visible on them. The hind legs are much longer than the front. Flexible movable fingers are equipped with sharp and tenacious claws. This allows the squirrel to move freely along tree trunks and branches.
Color and quality of fur
The condition of the wool protein depends on many factors. A great influence on the coat has a temperature regime. In winter, fur is longer, thicker and softer, and in summer it is short, sparse and harder. With changing weather conditions, the color of the animal changes. In the warm season, the fur may have shades of red or brown. With the advent of winter, wool acquires shades of gray with the presence of black or brown. Naturalists and hunters repeatedly described cases when they met squirrels that had a pure white or black color. In addition, the color of the tail may differ from the body of the animal. The variability of the color of the fur can be seen by looking at the photo of the squirrel.
It is also necessary to mention that the quality of the animal’s fur and its color depend on the habitat of the squirrel. The inhabitants of the northern and southern latitudes are unlike each other in the color of their fur coats. Squirrels living in coniferous, deciduous or mixed forests differ among themselves. Shedding occurs twice a year - in spring and autumn. Its duration and intensity depend on weather conditions and the quality of the feed that the proteins feed on during this period. In the harvest years, molting begins and ends earlier. In the absence of sufficient feed, the process is stretched for a longer period.
Nutrition
Squirrel is an inhabitant of forests. The main food for the animal is the seeds of plants of tree species. The animal does not refuse berries, mushrooms, nuts, acorns. In lean years, squirrels feed on buds, lichens, bark of young shoots, needles, and herbaceous plants. Sometimes this can harm the vegetation of those places where a lot of protein is bred.
They like squirrels to enjoy eggs that they get from bird nests. An adult animal can hunt small birds or their chicks.
The best habitat of the animal are
mixed forests. It is here that throughout the year, the protein finds the highest quality nutrition for itself. In total, the animal's diet has about 130 species of various feeds.
Lifestyle
The squirrel lives in a hollow that it finds in a tree trunk. In addition, the animal does not abandon empty birdhouses, old bird nests. Therefore, living in a forest zone, squirrels are always provided not only with food, but also with a place for shelter from danger and bad weather. At a favorable time, the animal actively moves, looking for food. In a snowless period, the hodge can easily move on the surface of the earth. In winter, the squirrel's nest remains free only when the animal goes for feeding. The rest of the time the animal spends in a safe shelter.
The squirrel easily moves along tree branches, jumping 3-4 meters in a straight path. When descending, jumps to a distance of 10 - 15 meters. The tail helps to control such jumps.
Hollow squirrels
For residents of deciduous forests, the most reliable place where you can hide from the weather and various dangers is a hollow. The squirrel carefully warms him. She drags dry leaves, soft grass, lichens into the shelter.
The squirrel hollow is usually located at a height of 7 to 15 meters. This distance from the earth is the safest. Some
types of squirrels equip their homes at a height of 4 - 6 meters. At the same height is the nest of squirrels, which she builds herself if necessary. The female is most often involved in arranging "housing". The male does not build shelters, he uses for shelter the old abandoned nests of birds or his relatives.
Knowing who lives in the hollow of an old tree in the forest, it can be assumed that a prudent squirrel must take care of building its own housing. After all, the neighborhood in a hollow with a marten, bees or other larger inhabitants can not always be pleasant for the animal.
Gayno
A nest of squirrels is called a guinea fowl. This type of shelter is built by the animal from dry twigs, branches, twigs. Clay or earth is used to give strength to the foundation of the structure. The parts used in the construction are fastened together not only by way of weaving with each other, but also with the help of moss, bast, bast. The choice of building material for the squirrel house depends on the forest where it lives. Therefore, in their appearance, nests of squirrels living in different areas of habitat sometimes differ from each other.
After the construction is completed, the guyo has the shape of a ball with a diameter of 25 - 30 centimeters. In appearance, the nest resembles a basket with a lid. Most often, nests are built by squirrels living in coniferous forests. The shelter is located in the fork of a tree trunk or among large branches of the crown. When choosing trees to build a nest, the squirrel prefers firs. There are cases when squirrel nests were located in close proximity to the ground in juniper bushes. But the choice of such a place for refuge is very rare and happens only when the peace of the animal is not disturbed by a person or
predatory animals.Gayno, called the squirrel's nest, has two side exits. One of them is necessarily facing the tree trunk on which the shelter is located. The animal uses this output at the time of danger. The trunk can easily reach the crown and hide from danger among the branches.
The animal lining the interior of the nest with a thick layer of insulation, which consists of its own wool, moss, dry soft grass, bast. Guy walls do not have gaps or openings, except for entrance ones. But their animal, if necessary, can be carefully closed from the inside. In cold winters, a nest of squirrels can take up to five animals. However, such an animal settlement is an exception. The squirrel likes to host in its nest alone.
How a squirrel uses a nest
Veksha is very clean. She constantly takes care of the nest, corrects it, creates comfort in it. And this is no coincidence. It turns out that animals hide in nests not only from a storm, a hurricane, a blizzard and frost. They need this shelter to hide from the heat. In summer, when the weather is hot, squirrels can be seen in the forest only in the morning or in the evening. The rest of the day they spend in their reliable shelter.
The female uses guinea, called the nest of squirrels, to breed offspring. Young squirrels leave their mother's home only a few months after their birth.
How many nests do you need?
An interesting fact is that the squirrel lives in a hollow and at the same time it can have several more nests suitable for shelter. Sometimes the number of nests in which the squirrel lives reaches fifteen. Two or three of them are the main ones, they are built with special care and accuracy. And the rest of the nests can be called spare. In them, the animal takes refuge from predators and bad weather, if necessary, and the main nest is far from the place of the animal.
It is noticed that from one nest to another the protein passes after 2 - 3 days. It is believed that in this way she gets rid of parasites.
Offspring Care
A nest of squirrels designed to breed offspring is different from where it lives alone. The brood nest is large. The animal builds it with greater care and accuracy. Sometimes not one such nest is built, but two or three. The helpless cubs that have appeared are transferred by the protein from place to place in the teeth.
Squirrel Pantries
The life of the squirrel and its offspring depends on the quality of the feed. A sufficient amount of it is especially important in the cold season. That is why in the summer and autumn the animal stacks surplus feed in the pantries. These reserves will be in demand in the winter.
Pantries are arranged in hollows and tree roots, in minks. Squirrel hangs some of its reserves (for example, mushrooms) directly on the branches, without hiding them from prying eyes. But more often than not, the veksha is trying to hide the food so that it is not visible to other inhabitants of the forest. For this protein paws corrects the moss, which she had to raise in order to hide supplies. In doing so, she tries to hide the traces of her activities.
However, the location of its own storerooms is quickly forgotten. Kindred or other inhabitants of the forest, especially those who live in the hollow where the pantry is located, can take advantage of its reserves. But even the protein itself, without embarrassment, can enjoy the blanks of any other animal. The main thing for her is to find such a pantry. Sometimes during crop failure it happens that the stocks are very small. The storerooms are empty already in late autumn or early winter. Feedless leads to mass death of proteins.
In severe winters, the transfer of squirrels to city parks can be a real salvation for them. Living next to humans, animals can always find food for themselves. The animals quickly get used to the presence of people and are not at all afraid of them. Recently, cases have become more frequent when protein is tamed. In captivity, the animal, of course, will live longer, especially if it is well taken care of.