Squirrels are usually medium in size , is a typical representative animal in cold temperate coniferous forest and mixed forest. The limbs are strong, the toes have sharp claws, the claws are hooked, and the weight is usually about 350 grams. Females are slightly heavier than males. The squirrel is slender and light, with a body length of about 18-26 cm, and a long and thick tail, which is more than two-thirds of the body length, but not as long as the body.

The tail hair is dense and fluffy, the limbs and front and rear feet are long, but the front limbs are shorter than the hind limbs . The ear shells are well-developed, reaching the eyes when folded forward, and the ears have a tuft of long black hairs in winter. The back of the whole body is from the snout to the base of the tail, the sides of the body and the outer sides of the limbs are brown-gray, the base of the hair is gray-black, and the tip of the hair is brown or gray. The abdomen is from the back of the lower collar to the base of the tail, and the inside of the limbs are all white. The back and ventral surface of the tail are brown-black, the base of the hair is gray, and the tip of the hair is brown-black. The muzzle, cheeks and underside are as coloured as the back, but more blue-grey, the ear shells are black-grey, and the winter hair has large black tufts. Individual coat colors vary greatly, such as blue-gray, gray, brown-gray, dark gray, and black-brown. With the difference of the region, the coat color also changes, such as Liaoningsquirrel The color of the squirrel is gray, while the squirrel in southern my country is darker. In addition, the coat color is also affected by the season, gray or taupe in winter, black or dark brown in summer.

Squirrels have particularly long ears and tail hairs that are adapted to living in trees; they use hook-like claws and tails to hang upside down from branches. At dawn and evening, they also leave the trees and hunt on the ground. After squirrels find abundant food in autumn, they will use tree holes or dig holes in the ground to store food such as fruits, and at the same time block the holes with soil or fallen leaves.

Demon squirrels change to black-gray winter fur in autumn that covers their bodies tightly. Newborn squirrels are hairless and their eyes are unknown. They don't start to grow hair until 8 days after birth. They open their eyes in about 30 days, and can eat nuts with thin shells in about 45 days. become agile. Squirrels are very docile little guys to their owners, and we should also treat them gently, so that they will give you their hearts and will never hurt you with their teeth. Of course, they will nibble your fingers with their teeth, play with you, and feel itchy, which is a sign of their friendliness to you.

Squirrels build their nests on dense branches, or use the abandoned nests of crows and magpies, and sometimes make nests in tree holes; they eat twigs, young shoots, leaves in addition to wild fruits , as well as insects and bird eggs. As soon as autumn arrives, squirrels begin to store food. A squirrel often stores several kilograms of food in several places. Sometimes squirrels are seen drying food on trees to prevent them from spoiling and becoming moldy. In this way, in the cold winter, the squirrel will not worry about having nothing to eat.

Squirrel has a strong ability to bear children. Like other rodents, it has the characteristics of early maturity and fast reproduction. In January and February every year, male and female squirrels begin to fall in love. The male mouse swings his thick tail and jumps on the canopy to chase the female mouse. At this time, the female mouse is also excited and enthusiastic. The estrus period lasts for about two weeks, during which the male and the female are almost inseparable. Female mice give birth in 35-45 days of gestation, and usually produce two litters a year, but occasionally 3 litters. Female mice born in the first year can produce 3-6 cubs per litter, and each litter can produce 5-10 cubs after the second year. The newborn cub is smooth and hairless, with red body and closed eyes, weighing between 7 grams and 8.5 grams, with a body length of 5.9 cm and a tail length of 2.6 cm. The pups start sexual maturity at 8-9 months of age, that is, they can mate for breeding in the second year.

Squirrels are omnivores. They mainly eat all kinds of grains, seeds and fruits, and occasionally small insects. Its vegetarian diet is mainly based on the dried fruits and seeds of Korean pine, spruce, fir, larch, sylvestris pine, hazelnut and acorn; meat food is mainly based on insects, larvae, ant eggs and other small animals. When food is unavailable, squirrels have other options. You can eat tree buds in spring, mushrooms, trays, bilberries and other berries in summer. In autumn, the food is extremely abundant. You don’t have to worry about eating and drinking. You can eat whatever you want, but the most delicious thing is the red pine nuts. When it comes to picking pine nuts, squirrels are good at it. No matter how tall the tree is or where the cones are, the squirrel can eat it. The specific process is as follows: it first bites off the mature cones to the ground, and then comes down from the tree. Like primates, it uses its front feet to rip off the scales of the cones, crush the seed coat, take out the seeds, and eat the pine nuts. Interestingly, when the squirrel is frightened, it does not easily put down the food, but runs away with the cone in its mouth.

The squirrel's sense of smell is extremely developed, and it can accurately identify the emptiness of pine nuts and nuts. All the seeds abandoned by the squirrels on the pine cone have no seeds, although the shell of the seeds is not Biting open, the squirrel can tell by sniffing it. Squirrels also have the instinct to store food. When the red pine nuts are ripe in autumn, the squirrels run around with the pine nuts in their mouths and transport them to a safe place to hide. A few or a dozen of them are buried in the ground and kept as winter food. Although the ground is covered with snow in winter, squirrels can still find the hidden food effortlessly, and there are some missing items that cannot be found. But it is precisely because it is buried in the ground that it cannot be found, which helps the spread and dissemination of Korean pine seeds and promotes natural renewal.

Squirrels are widespread, almost all over the forest. The number of its population depends to a large extent on the abundance of food. If food is abundant for several consecutive years, the population will increase significantly, especially in the years when the pine nuts are harvested. When the pine nut harvest fails, the squirrels have to move their families to find other habitats, resulting in a sharp decline in the area. The behavior of squirrels to determine the population size with the abundance of food is really superior, it not only helps the population to reproduce but also helps the population to be widely distributed.

The living habits of squirrels are different from other animals. They like to be active in broad daylight, especially in the early morning. They often jump between tree trunks and branches, foraging for food and for a while. Play, unrestrained, so uncomfortable. Squirrels do not have the habit of hibernating, but they are not very active in the cold winter season. Especially in the severe winter weather, the time to get out of the nest is short, usually around 9:00 am to go out for 1-2 hours; after 1:00 pm, then go out for 1-2 hours, and stay in the nest for the rest of the time. A squirrel has a habit that no matter how cold the weather is, it does not eat in its nest, but sits on a branch, facing the rising sun, holding the food into its mouth with its forelegs, chewing and tasting it with relish, sometimes listening, sometimes turning its eyes to look around. All around, funny and funny.

Although the squirrel is one of the larger rodents, it is still threatened by natural enemies because it is not at the top of the food chain. Weasel, weasel, weasel, etc. and owl, golden eagle, etc. The other is mainly magpies and crows, which prey on squirrel pups during the breeding season. The former natural enemy is beneficial to the healthy reproduction of the squirrel population in a sense, because most of the natural enemies hunted are the old, weak and sick. The latter kind of natural enemy is harmful and unhelpful. Not only is the squirrel cute in its image, but more importantly, the squirrel's economic value is widely known. Squirrel skin has always been one of the bulk wild furs in Heilongjiang Province, and used to be an important product for export earning foreign exchange. Squirrel skin can be used to make leather coats, scarves, hats, and tail hair can be used to make paintbrushes. In recent years, due to the reduction of Korean pine forests, the production of Korean pine nuts, which squirrels depend on for food, has declined, and the number of squirrels has also decreased. At present, the annual output of squirrel skins is less than 20,000, and the highest in history has reached 185,000. It can be seen that the number of squirrels has been scarce, and measures should be taken to strictly protect them.

1. Food

Squirrels all seem to feed on the seeds of Fagaceae plants, but also eat quite a lot in nature Insects, so it is best to feed some animal food. Nuts such as walnuts and chestnuts are the favorites of squirrels. Biting through the hard shell is not only a game for squirrels, but also helps to wear their teeth. It is best to feed these foods regularly. If artificial feed is the staple food, apples and other foods should also be supplemented.

2. Breeding cages

Squirrels are very lively, especially like to climb trees. Since squirrels are accustomed to nesting in trees, the nest box should be installed high in the cage. The nest box can be replaced by a nest box with a high entrance and exit for small birds. Squirrels move very quickly, so be careful when opening and closing doors to avoid escaping. In case of escape, if you grab it suddenly, avoid being bitten by a squirrel.

3. Others

April to May is the breeding season for chipmunk and Hokkaido squirrel, each time can produce 4-5 small squirrels. Reproduction is similar to that of mice. It is advisable to raise young mice from 35 days to 60 days after birth, and feed hot milk (30-40°C) with a straw 3-5 times a day when they are first raised. Gradually switch to bread or other soft foods soaked in milk. Even if you start feeding them after they are grown up, as long as you train them slowly and patiently, they will become very close to people and climb up to their owners.

Diet taboo

It is not advisable to eat meat and eggs, which have a great impact on the gastrointestinal digestive system. Vegetables that should not be eaten raw: carrots, potatoes, beans, ginger, onion, garlic, peppers, etc. Fruits and vegetables that should not be eaten: cabbage, rape, lettuce, lettuce, lotus root, cucumber, tomato, eggplant, banana, orange, watermelon, pear, etc. It is not advisable to eat pickled dried fruits, preserved fruits, immature or processed nuts, which are not easy to digest. Beverages, especially carbonated beverages. Tea (it has been reported that squirrels died from eating tea) cat and dog pet food (because with meat). Apple seeds and cherries (toxic to squirrels). Insects should not be eaten, although insects are nutritious and will increase the wildness of squirrels when eaten. It is not advisable to eat food with chocolate and caffeine. These two things can make squirrels too excited, which are not good for the squirrel's body or mood. Seriously, it will lead to death from excessive heart rate or death from heart failure.