Squirrels of the Northern variety only breed during the first period. Southern flying squirrels breed in late winter or early spring and then again during the summer months. The sleeping fliers will poke their heads out of the nests to see what all the racket is about and to determine if they need to escape to a safer location. You can tell if you have Flying squirrels by tapping on the trunks of your trees with a stick. They are 8-10 inches long, the same size as Red squirrels, and have grayish-brown fur with white undersides. They mate most often in January and only bear one litter per year.įlying squirrels are nocturnal while others are active during the day. The difference in appearance is that Fox squirrels have reddish-gray fur with orange-tinted bellies. The male who mates with her will do so multiple times in a row to ensure that she becomes pregnant on that one day.įox squirrels are very similar to Gray squirrels but have spread from the eastern to central states. They mate twice per year in late winter and mid-summer, but the females are only fertile one day each breeding season. They will also chase other squirrels out of their territory, even if the other squirrels are larger. They do not hide nuts one by one but in a large pile. You can also tell if you have Red squirrels in your area if you find a large cache of nuts hidden in a hollowed log or in the ground. They grow tufts of fur on their ears in the winter and like to make their nests in conifer (evergreen) trees rather than leafy deciduous trees. They are smaller than gray squirrels, about 9-10 inches long, with reddish-brown fur and a white underbelly. Eastern gray squirrels commonly breed in late winter or early spring, and then again in the middle of summer.Īmerican red squirrels can be found all over the United States. The ideal height for a squirrel nest is 40-60 feet off the ground. They’ll take over holes that a woodpecker made or damaged areas where a tree branch fell off as long as it’s high enough off the ground to protect them from foxes, coyotes, snakes, and other predators. In nut-bearing trees and will build their nests out of sticks and other materials on tree branches or in hollowed cavities of tree trunks. They are common in the Eastern United States, meaning east of the Mississippi River. Some are all white (albino) and others are all black. They are about 18-20 inches long, including their tail. You can identify each by sight, and they each have slightly different mating habits.Įastern gray squirrels are gray or silver with a white belly. The five most common squirrel species in America are the Eastern gray, the American red, the Fox squirrel, Northern flying, Southern flying, and Ground squirrel. Squirrel Mating Seasons and Identifying Your Squirrels They rely on scent, sound, size, and fur markings to help them know and mate with their own species. ![]() An Eastern gray squirrel does not mate with an American red squirrel, nor does a Northern flying squirrel mate with a Fox squirrel. They see everything in shades of black, white, and gray, and squirrels do not mate with other species of squirrels. It is essential that the female produce these pheromones and vocalizations because squirrels are color-blind. He has no other role to play than mating with her to produce young. After a male has mated with her, he might return to her to mate again but will not be involved with her during her pregnancy or afterward. The female will continue to attract males with her pheromones and chirping for about two weeks to ensure that she is pregnant. This plug prevents the sperm of other males from impregnating her, though it can fail, and one litter can be produced by multiple fathers. Once a male catches up with and wins the undisturbed opportunity to mate with the female (mating only takes about a minute), he finishes by ejaculating a waxy plug into the female’s vagina. They merely chase and try to intimidate one another until one submits and flees the scene. Even in this case, however, the squirrels do not injure one another. Most squirrels, with the exception of Red squirrels, are non-territorial, so this is the only time they will act aggressively toward one another. ![]() Older male squirrels are normally larger and so will win the fight against a younger male. If two males are pursuing her at the same time, they will fight each other for the chance. The males in the area will seek out the female and then chase her for the opportunity to mate with her. Males are fertile all year round, but females only once or twice a year, so the males become very excited when they hear and smell a female ready to produce young. These scents and sounds attract male squirrels and alert them that a female is fertile. When a female squirrel is approximately one year old, and the weather starts warm from winter to spring, she will begin to emit specific pheromones and make chirping noises.
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