All You Need To Know About the "Furry Little Friends".

Squirrels are the members of the family Sciuridae, in other words, small-medium size rodents. Squirrel teeth are constantly growing because of this they need to chew all the time. this is why they are so destructive to bird feeders; they are constantly chewing to file down their teeth. they will also chew a feeder to get at the delicious food inside. Squirrels can jump as high as 4-5 feet, and 10ft horizontally. A good fact to keep in mind when deciding where to place your bird feeders. Another great way to distract squirrel from your bird feeder is to provide your squirrel with their own feeders. During winter time the grey squirrel, in particular has a very varied diet and over the course of the year they can collect and hoard up to three years’ worth of their food requirements. They grab what they can, when they can and quite literally bury it away for a rainy day. If you’d like to see a squirrel’s behavior first hand and up close, why not try installing a squirrel feeder and fill it with special squirrel feed outside in your garden. Squirrel Feeders can be made of wood, recycled plastic or metals. For a squirrel feeder that lasts almost forever, choose on that is made either of recycled plastic or metal(because of their natural instinct to chew). Around winter time why don't you see squirrels often compared to summer its because squirrels are crepuscular which means they are particularly active for a couple of hours in the early mornings and late afternoons but during the main body of the day can sleep for as much as 18 to 20 hours. The classic squirrel feeder holds cob corn the best for cob corn is the Squngee. It is exactly what sounds like a bungee cord that holds two cobs of corn. the squirrel has to jump from the ground to access the corn, and they bounce while they chew. it provides entertainment to even owners who do not like squirrels. it makes a great gift as well. Another great squirrel feeder is the Munch House. It is a box with a hole on each side, and the front is made of clear plastic. the squirrel crawls into the house to access the food, and you can watch them in the "window".

"If you have a bird feeder, you are probably aware that a couple of squirrels can Hoover up $20 worth of bird seed quicker than a politician can tell a lie"

Any tray feeder can be used as a squirrel feeder. The Multipurpose platform feeder provides a tray for birdseed. Squirrels are omnivores so they can eat a variety of things. We have a squirrel mix which consists of corn, sunflower seeds, and whole peanuts.

Photo credits - Joakim Honkasalo

Some customers enjoy providing their squirrels with their very own home. A Squirrel house usually has at least two entrance/exit holes. Rodents prefer having at least two exits, in case of a predator. A squirrel house usually has multi-levels, to provide safety. Mount your squirrel house high (at least 10ft).

Squirrels do not hibernate in winter, but they do not like bitter cold weather, so they will stay hunkered down in their den or drey when it is really cold, opting to stay warm with their friends rather than venture out.

If the customer is interested in learning more about squirrels, we can recommend the book north American tree squirrel, by Michael A Steele and John L Koprowski. It is an extremely informative book about the behavior of gray squirrel.

We at urban nature store have Squirrel Proof Buster Feeders and Squirrel Stopper but we also have vareity of Products for Squirrel Lovers.

- Happy Squirrel Awareness Month! Editors: Daniel Oommen and Jane Paradis

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