Red Squirrel day is 21st January. It’s a chance to learn more about these amazing animals and about their habitats. So to celebrate I created this illustrated fun fact.
Red squirrels are the UK’s only native species of squirrel. They are at risk of extinction.
How many are left in the UK?
There are approximately 287,000 thought to be left in the UK. (Roughly only 13,000 in England).
Most of the UK’s red squirrel population is in Scotland.
Why are there so few?
Their numbers have dropped because of the invasive grey squirrel and loss of habitat.
Grey squirrels have been pushing red squirrels out of deciduous forests and limiting them to conifer forests.
Where can you find the red squirrel in the world?
Native to Europe, Siberia, Mongolia and North West China.
Why are grey squirrels a threat to red squirrels?
Grey squirrels are larger at almost double the weight. They are also aggressive in nature and territorial. They have forced red squirrels out of a large chunk of their natural habitat. Red squirrels are often portrayed as only living in conifer forests, however before the arrival of grey squirrels they also thrived in deciduous forests.
Red Squirrel Stats
Weight: 300g approx
Length: 18-24cm approx
Tail length: 17-18cmm approx
Eyesight: Excellent eyesight but cannot see in colour.
Sense of smell: They have an awesome sense of smell, they can smell food under a foot of snow and they can sense a rotten nut without opening it.
Vocal sounds: Listen out for a CHUK CHUK call. They also make a “wrruhh-ing” sound, chatter their teeth and make several different moan sounds.
Diet
Red squirrels have a primarily vegetarian diet eating seeds, hazelnuts, fungus, bark, sapwood and pinecones.
They bury nuts and store fruiting bodies of fungus in trees to dry out and eat later (super clever!).
BUT they have been known to eat young birds and eggs.
Do red squirrels hibernate?
NO! They do not hibernate and rely on their food stores.
Red squirrels are also diurnal and are most active in the morning or late afternoon.
Where do red squirrels spend their time?
Red squirrels spend most of their time in the tree canopy.
They make multiple nests called dreys to avoid detection by predators.
What are their predators?
Goshawks, buzzards, domestic cat, fox and grey squirrel.
What are red squirrel babies called?
Red squirrel babies are called kittens. They are born blind with no hair or teeth. They are very vulnerable to disease and predators with a mortality rate of 50%. Red squirrels will have litters of up to 6 kittens.
Random fact of the day
They can swim; this is a rare sighting however.
Footnotes
What are my sources?
Thank you to The Wildlife Trusts and The Red Squirrel Survival Trust for making an abundance of information available about the red squirrel.
What do you think?
I spend a lot of time checking my facts before publishing, if however, you spot something you think is wrong please let me know. We are all about learning and growing in this household. I’d also love to know if you have any other awesome red squirrel fun facts. Just comment below or email min@curiouskin.co.uk