Photo Details
September 22, 2002 - Silver Lake, Salt Lake County, Utah - ©Nicky
Davis
Characteristics
- Head to tail is about 6.5-9 inches and the tail is 3.5-6
inches.
- Fur color is variable ranging from brownish to
olive-red
in color.
- During the summer, a black stripe can be seen on the side.
- The belly is white or cream color.
- The tail may be edged with white.
- There is a white band encircling the large, black eye.
- They occupy
coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests eating seeds, fruit, nuts,
bark, buds, shed antlers, reptiles, insects, tree sap, pine cones,
fungi (including mushrooms that are poisonous to humans), eggs, young
birds, mice, and young rabbits. They store many seeds and nuts
underground, in piles, or under rocks for the winter and can relocate
caches buried a foot underground and 13 feet below snow using their
sense of smell. Still some seeds aren't recovered making the
squirrels a key tree planter and seed disperser.
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