Mammals of the WorldEurasian Red Squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Genus
- Sciurus
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Ireland|United Kingdom|Portugal|Spain|France|Netherlands|Belgium|Luxembourg|Switzerland|Liechtenstein|Italy|Austria|Germany|Denmark|Czech Republic|Slovenia|Slovakia|Hungary|Croatia|Bosnia and Herzegovina|Serbia|Kosovo|Montenegro|Albania|North Macedonia|Greece|Bulgaria|Turkey|Romania|Poland|Moldova|Ukraine|Belarus|Lithuania|Latvia|Estonia|Norway|Sweden|Finland|Russia|Kazakhstan|Kyrgyzstan|China|Mongolia|North Korea|South Korea|Japan
- Realm
- Palearctic
About this species
- Diet
- Seeds, cones, fungi, buds and fruit
- Habitat
- Coniferous, mixed and deciduous woodland
The Eurasian red squirrel has a slender body, long bushy tail and conspicuous ear tufts, especially in winter. Coat colour ranges from bright red through brown to almost black, but the underparts remain white or cream. Strong curved claws aid climbing, and the hind legs are longer than the forelegs. Unlike a flying squirrel it has no gliding membrane; unlike most ground squirrels it spends much of its time in trees. (Wikipedia, red squirrel account)
Red squirrels occupy coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests across Eurasia. They are active by day, travel through the canopy and feed heavily on conifer seed, nuts, fungi, buds and fruit, sometimes taking other foods. Cones and nuts are cached, and rounded twig nests called dreys provide shelter, though tree holes may also be used. Breeding timing varies with food and climate. The opened account does not describe Mongolian forests or a reliable viewing locality, so the ecology here remains species-wide. (Wikipedia, red squirrel account)
Description: Wildlife of Japan guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)