General Types of Squirrels

If you found squirrels roaming inside your home, you would have most likely noticed that they all do look alike. But don't you ever get yourself to thinking that they are all the same. There are many different types of squirrels you can find in your own backyard. There are so many of them that you can’t actually take them all into account at once.

It is important to be able to identify which type of squirrel you are currently dealing with inside your household if you want to know how to get rid of them. Knowing the type of squirrel will enable you to know which method or technique to use, or what squirrel control device you should use to effectively catch the vermin that's roaming all around your house. Also, there is a need to be able to identify the type of squirrel in order to know which ones are endangered are which ones are not. If you kill an endangered type of squirrel, you may as well risk yourself to considerable fines and even imprisonment. There are certain types of squirrels that are protected by specific states in US. There are also those that are generally acknowledge worldwide to be endangered therefore they are understood to be utterly protected by animal rights.

Therefore, there is an imperative need for you to first know the general types of squirrels that are normally found in households. Don't ever go killing squirrels right away when you are not even sure which ones you are killing. You may have to face some serious legal consequences if you do so. It's best to be very careful first.

Here are some types of squirrels and some descriptions to help you identify them whenever you see one around your house:

Fox Squirrels

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Fox squirrels are among the normally found squirrels inside the house. They are usually 18 to 24 inches in size lengthwise (from nose to the tip of the tail). They are quite light for their size actually. Fox squirrels could only weigh as much as 2 pounds and usually have bushy tails with yellow tipped hairs. Fox squirrels are usually brown to rusty grey and brown. There are also grey to black variations of them. However, such type of fox squirrels is rare to be found inside the house. They are normally found in their natural habitat.

Gray Squirrels

Gray squirrels are much smaller species of squirrels than the fox squirrels. Their sizes would only range from 17-19 inches from nose to tail tip. They usually have buffer underfur and grey on top. However, there are also gray squirrels that have black furs and they are also found inside households. They forage a lot inside the house, feeding on whatever leftover food they can find in the table or in the trash bin. They could cause quite a mess inside the house. They have bushy tails that are usually colored grey. They also have silvery tipped hairs which makes them easily distinguishable.

Flying Squirrels

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Despite their capacity to glide that makes them seemingly fly, these squirrels are smaller which also make them also lighter, making their weight highly ideal for their gliding features. They have membrane skins in their side area, from the wrist of their front legs to their hind legs. This feature enables them to fly around by gliding through the air. Their tails are flat which also works at the same time as their rudder each time they glide. Flying squirrels also have very large eyes with respect to their size. They also have longer furs and with grey or brown back and often creamy white bellies. Flying squirrels have lesser fur compared to other squirrels. They're not as plump and bushy. The size of a flying squirrel would only range from 9 to 10 inches from nose to the tip of their tail.

There is actually a major difference to the foraging habits of the previous three types of squirrels mentioned in this article. The flying squirrels are known to be nocturnal, which only makes them active during night and often sleeping the entire day. The fox and gray squirrels are more likely to be active during daytime, from morning to late afternoon and would often rest by the evening.

Foraging Habits

Squirrels would normally have biological needs to ferret for food and the process is called "foraging". Foraging creatures like squirrels like to roam a lot in many different places just to search for food resources. If ever they find one, they make it a point to dwell on that particular place as long as they can until they will realize that it's already time to move on to a different location. The only time that happens is when they feel that the resources are already apparently depleted.

Sometimes the reason why squirrels leave their foraging territories is because they found a better area to relocate themselves. However, more often than not, it is rare for squirrels to relocate themselves. They will usually just settle down in one place especially if they are aware that there are enough food sources in their present areas.

Fox squirrels diet is normally on fruits, tree buds and nuts. Among their most favorite food found in human territory are crackers. They love eating crackers and they are often the cause why crackers left on tables suddenly go missing. Field corns and soy beans are also among their favorite dish and they will eat those whenever they are available. But usually they are stored until fall and that's the only time fox squirrels will consume them. Fox squirrels are often prey to owls and hawks. Snakes are also after them as well as many other larger ground predators. Fox squirrels are also among the favorite dish of many predators.

Eastern gray squirrels do litter from two to three offspring. They usually conceive their young ones during spring. They actually wean their young in the first 50 days after the conception. Acorns and nuts are also among the most favorite dish of this squirrel.