What is a squirrel's natural diet and how does it get its food?

Despite general belief, squirrels don't feed only on nuts. Squirrels are, in fact, omnivores, that feed on a variety of foods, from nuts, seeds, vegetables, roots, plants to eggs and meat. Depending on the type, different squirrels have different feeding habits, as well as different ways of storing food. Squirrels have a habit of storing food during the cold days, which means they collect different foods during the warm months and store them in different places until the winter time when they will dig out the food when they need it



Squirrels that live in trees, such as the red squirrel and the flying squirrels, will most often feed on nuts and seeds they manage to pick up in the trees. They will also often steal eggs from bird nests and feed with the egg whites. Since the squirrels that live in the trees build nests within larger holes and gaps in the trees, they use the same strategy to store their food supplies for the cold months. These squirrels will store a certain amount of food in these special nests and then return and dig it out once they need it. If these squirrels come close to human households, they are likely to try and enter the yards and roofs of these homes looking for food.

Squirrels that live in the land, also known as grey squirrels, dig tunnels underground which they use to move around and nest. Theses animals most often feed on seeds and roots they manage to collect. They will feed on a variety of foods, including seeds they will collect from the plants. They will also eat and store any nuts they find laying on the ground. Grey squirrels will also nibble on the different parts of plants, including roots. They are very likely to infest gardens and crop fields, as they are attracted to a large amount of food lying in the open. These animals are also likely to inhabit homes, including basements and sheds. They can often impact households to the degree in which they can be considered pests.

When it comes to feeding their kittens, as squirrels are mammals, the mother will breastfeed her offspring until they are ready to feed on their own. During the winter months, squirrels will use the food supplies they have stored in the ground or trees. They will usually eat up to one pound of food per day.

In general, eating habits of squirrels are connected to the environment they live in. their omnivorous nature will allow them to feed on wide variety of foods, and they are very skillful in swiftly collecting and storing food supplies. Squirrels can get all the nutrients they need of eating around one pound of food every day, and will spend most of their activities in search for food. Once they encounter human households, squirrels are likely to consider them an appealing source of food and shelter. Particularly during the nesting and winter periods, squirrels are likely to invade households in search for food supplies. this , along with growing deforestation, is the main reason of ever growing squirrel infestations.

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