Wondering when squirrels have babies? Or what their typical nesting behavior is? We will explain squirrels’ life cycle.
What exactly are squirrels?
Medium-size rodents you find climbing up trees, picking acorns up off the lawn, snacking on bird seeds from feeders and chasing each other around from time to time are Squirrels. You can find these creatures in most parts of the world, but mainly in North and South America, Eurasia and Africa.
Their family includes a variety of mammals such as:
- Ground Squirrels
- Tree Squirrels
- Marmots
- Woodchucks
- Flying Squirrels
- Prairie Dog
What do squirrels eat?
Squirrels have a diet that consist of lots of nuts, seeds, fruits such as berries, and mushrooms, insects, larva and green vegetation. Some will even go as far as eating small birds and snake eggs when they are starving and have nothing else to eat since these foods are rich in protein. When these furry tree dwelling rodents cannot get enough to eat in the wild they will snack on birdseeds and berries bushes in gardens.
When do squirrels breed?
Breeding season occurs each year between the months of February and April and between August and September. After the mother is done with her male mate she will drive him from the nest using aggressive behavior. Each litter a mother squirrel has contains two to five young babies. Once the babies are born in a snuggly warm nest made from leaves the mother makes inside a hollow tree, borrows beneath the ground or even in people’s attics and walls when no other place in their surroundings feels suitable to them, the mother nurtures the babies until they are twelve weeks old. This is because when baby squirrels are born they are born naked without fur and cannot fend for themselves. It takes weeks to grow a warm coat of fur, climb trees, hunt for food and defend themselves from harm.
Are squirrels nocturnal animals?
No, squirrels are not nocturnal. In fact, squirrels sleep during the night in their cozy nests and wake up in the early morning as sun as the sun comes up, but they go in for a rest until mid afternoon. When mid afternoon arrives the squirrels are back up and doing whatever it is they need to do to survive such as build new nest, hunt for food, and eat and drink water.
Some people believe squirrels are nocturnal because sometimes they can hear these creatures in their wall at nighttime running around. This is only because these creatures are building a nest before winter hits and gathering food. If you feel you have a squirrel infestation in the walls of your home, call in rodent control to help you safely and carefully remove these passive creatures out of it.
While these creatures mean no harm to you, they can do damage to your home by chewing away at structural beams, electrical wires and plastic plumbing pipes. Leaving these creatures inside the walls of your home or attics can cause electrical fires that can burn down and entire house in minutes or cause water damage that leaves you rebuilding and redoing the inside of your home.
What to do if you find baby squirrels?
If you find a squirrels nest without a mother and live babies still inside of it, it is best to leave it be and call in Fish and Game services, or a wild life rescue service to come handle the matter properly. If you find a baby squirrel that has fallen out of the nest, the best thing you can do is carefully place it back into the nest.
However, if the baby squirrel doesn’t have any other siblings or mother left in the nest some people have been known to nurse them until they are adults and keep them as pets. Although, keeping squirrels as pets is probably not the best options. After all, all creatures that come from the wild as rescues should be return back into it once they become healthy again.