FUN FACTS FOR HUMANS, A SOURCE OF PRIDE FOR LITERATE SQUIRRELS!!!

FUN SQUIRREL PAGE (FOR HUMANS)

INTERESTING SQUIRREL FACTS

WHAT ARE SQUIRRELS?

  • There are over 300 kinds of squirrels. They are found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica!
  • Squirrels range in size from the pygmy squirrels of Africa, which are about 13 cm (5 in) long, to the giant squirrels of Asia, which are about 90 cm (36 in) long.
  • The little-known wooly flying squirrel, long thought to be extinct, was recently discovered in the Himalayas.
  • In addition to residing in the Eastern US, Eastern Gray Squirrels can be found in many Western states, Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa.
  • A preserved skeleton of a prehistoric squirrel was found in Utah at the turn of the century. It dated back to the Pleistocene era and was approximately 20 feet tall with sharp claws (but a short tail), and was certainly too large for the modern bird feeder they terrorize today.

ARE THERE ANY FAMOUS SQUIRRELS?

  • Former president Theodore Roosevelt had pet flying squirrels in the White House during his presidency.
  • A pet squirrel named "Wooly", on August 18, 1953, in Madison, Wisconsin, pulled a mother, father and 3 children from a burning residence, and activated the fire alarm on the street.

WHAT CAN THEY DO?

  • Squirrels can jump a distance of up to 20 feet. They have long, muscular hind legs and short front legs that work together to aid in leaping.
  • A squirrel can fall more than one hundred feet without hurting itself.
  • A squirrel can use its tail for balancing as it leaps from branch to branch. It can also use its tail as a blanket to wrap around itself in cold weather, as a protection when fighting and as a form of parachute if it falls from a high tree.
  • The only warm-blooded mammal known to survive body temperatures below freezing is the supercooling, hibernating artic ground squirrel. When its body temperature drops as low as 26.8 F, it uses one-tenth the energy it would need to maintain its temperature above freezing.
  • A male squirrel can smell a female in heat up to a mile away. Mating season is February through May with a 44-day gestation period. Typically 2-4 young are born per litter.
  • A trained squirrel in a pet fitness contest in Tuscaloosa, Alabama lifted 100 times its body weight, or the equivalent of an adult woman. All the other pets were shamed into submission.

HOW ARE THEY BUILT?

  • Squirrels have 5 toes on their back feet and 4 toes on their front. Their front toes are very sharp and help in gripping tree bark. In addition, the back feet are longer than the front.
  • The hind legs of squirrels are double-jointed. This helps them run up and down trees quickly.
  • Squirrels eyes are positioned in such a way that they can see some things behind them.
  • The word "squirrel" means "shadow tail" in Greek.

WHAT DO THEY EAT?

  • Squirrels can eat their own body weight (approximately 1.5 pounds) every week.
  • Except for the ground squirrels, the animals live mainly in trees, and their food is largely vegetable (especially nuts, seeds, and buds), although they occasionally eat insects . Their habit of storing seeds helps in the dispersion of trees and other plant forms. In colder climates, ground squirrels commonly hibernate; tree squirrels do not.
  • A squirrel in Cleveland, Ohio ate two 12 inch pepperoni pizzas (extra cheese) in a contest in April, 1997. There is no truth to the rumor that he was offered a starting position as outside linebacker for the Browns.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION:

  • Squirrels belong to the family Sciuridae. Tree and ground squirrels belong to the subfamily Sciurinae, and flying squirrels belong to the subfamily Petauristinae. The pygmy squirrels of Africa make up the genus Myosciurus and the giant squirrels of Asia the genus Ratufa. The North American red squirrel is classified as Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, the eastern fox squirrel as Sciurus niger, the gray squirrel as Sciurus carolinensis, the European red squirrel as Sciurus vulgaris, and the 13-lined ground squirrel as Spermophilus tridecemlineatus. Scaly-tailed flying squirrels belong to the family Anomaluridae. The wooly flying squirrel is classified as Eupetaurus cinereus. But all of this means little to anyone but biologists and a trained squirrel named "Einstein", from Nag's Head, North Carolina, who actually learned to fluently speak and write Latin.

FUN TIME! NEW SQUIRREL PUZZLE!!

HERE'S A NEW SQUIRREL PUZZLE FOR ANYONE TO TRY!! SIMPLY HIT "SCRAMBLE" AND SOLVE BY MOVING YOUR CURSOR OVER AND PAST A BLOCK. WHEN YOU GIVE UP, HIT "SOLVE" AND TRY AGAIN!

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