Parimugdha Rout. 03/31/2021
Do you know that squirrels zig-zag to escape from predators? To start with, squirrels are funny because of the way that they eat and contact one another. They are also great animals to learn about. Baby squirrels are called “kits”, and they are born blind and hairless. It takes between 28 to 35 days before the kits can open their eyes, and a squirrels fur grows slowly and after 6 to 7 weeks, their fur will be fully grown. The squirrels leave the nest at between 42 and 49 days, but the mother doesn’t wean them until they reach 56 to 70 days old, when the baby squirrels go out on their own. Squirrels that are born in the late summer may stay with their mother over the winter. Females and males mate in the spring or summer, following their birth. Squirrels are found all over the world Where squirrels live depending on their species. Additionally, “Squirrels are amazing creatures, because they can leap 10 times their body length and turn their ankles 180 degrees to face any direction when climbing. They have superb vision, and they learn by quickly copying other animals,” (Ward). But that’s only one reason squirrels are amazing. Squirrels are important because they help the environment stay healthy.
Squirrels are very important to the world because they help the environment. Squirrels contribute to the ecosystem through forest regeneration. “They are huge contributors in shaping plant composition due to their eating and food saving habits,” (Danny). Squirrels happen to eat a lot of things and they are not picky eaters. They have a natural appetite for many native fruits, flowers, veggies, fungi, nuts, trees, plants, and insects in their habitat. These critters also find seeds and bury them through the ground for later. However, when they return to find their stored food, they forget the spot where they buried them, so the seeds and nuts that were buried in the ground sprout, growing into the trees. So squirrels’ forgetfulness helps them thrive in the ecosystem. “They will expand forests and change the types of trees that are there. In Florida, for example, they play an important role of maintaining the native long-leaf pine ecosystem,” an associate professor in the department of wildlife ecology and conservation in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Robert McCleery said. Squirrels have important roles in the environment.
The world would not be how it is today without squirrels since they are very important to the world and the environment needs them. A squirrel's role is to help disperse plant seeds for future trees. Everyone would starve and die without squirrels since they are very important to the food chain and they help grow trees and the trees give us oxygen, which helps us breathe. These critters are nature’s helpful gardeners. If squirrels went extinct, so would foxes since they eat squirrels. Many populations would over grow, while some would die out and animals as well as plants are necessary to the universe since they help us stay alive. Squirrels are active and fun to watch from a window in a house. Don’t you think that squirrels are fantastic and helpful animals to learn about?
Sources
Danny. "The Role of Squirrels in the Ecosystem." Exterminator Near Me, 7 Nov. 2018,
www.exterminatornearme.com/squirrels/the-role-of-squirrels-in-the-eco-system/ #:~:text=The%20most%20important%20role%20of,eating%20and%20food%20saving%20habit. &text=When%20they%20return%20to%20find,sprout%20and%20grow
%20into%20trees. Accessed 21 Mar. 2021.
Ward, Luke. "20 Fun Facts About Squirrels." The Fact Site, www.thefactsite.com/
fun-squirrel-facts/#:~:text=Squirrels%20are%20amazing%20creatures%2C%20they,face
%20any%20direction%20when%20climbing.&text=In%20Greek%2C%20the%20word
%20%27squirrel,nuts%20and%20acorns%20for%20winter. Accessed 21 Mar. 2021.
"Why should you love squirrels? Here are six reasons." University of Florida,
news.ufl.edu/articles/2018/01/why-should-you-love-squirrels-here-are-six-reasons.html#:
~:text=Squirrels%20have%20an%20important%20ecological,of%20nutrients%2C%20an
d%20burying%20them. Accessed 21 Mar. 2021.