Red Squirrel

Red squirrels are common within the park.

NPS

 

Red squirrel track

Scientific Name

Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Identification

• 11–15 inches long, 6.7–7 ounces.
• Brownish-red on its upper half; dark stripe above white ventral side; light eye ring; bushy tail.
• Quick, energetic.
• Loud, long chirp to advertise presence; much more pronounced in the fall.

Habitat

• Spruce, fir, and pine forests; young squirrels found in marginal aspen habitat.
• Eat conifer seeds, terminal buds of conifer trees, fungi, some insects; sometimes steal young birds from nests.
• Preyed on by coyotes, grizzly bears, hawks.

Behavior

• Breed February through May, typically March and April; one litter of 3–5 young.
• One of the park’s most territorial animals; territorialism ensures winter food supply.
• In fall, cuts cones from trees and caches them in middens, which are used for years and can be 15 by 30 feet; grizzlies search out these middens in whitebark pine and limber pine habitat to obtain the nuts.