A frequent, and sometimes unwanted visitor, to bird feeders is the Eastern Gray Squirrel. Seen performing amazing jumps, dives, and slides, the squirrel can also be a source of amusement and to joy to others. No matter what side of the feeder you are on, the “I love squirrels” side or the “Get out of my feeder!” side, you have to admit that we know very little about these frequent dinner guests.

The Eastern Gray Squirrel, though seen almost everywhere in suburbia, is a very misunderstood animal. Contrary to popular belief, not all squirrels are rabid birdseed eating machines. Instead these squirrels are peanut eating machines!

According to most scientists though, squirrels prefer to eat acorns, twigs, seeds, insects, and cracked corn. In fact, many stores that sell bird seed will advise you to buy a squirrel feeder complete with corn logs; however, after careful observation, one will learn that squirrels actually prefer peanuts over any other treat offered to them. They are not particularly picky as to whether or not the peanut is roasted, salted, etc., as long as it is a peanut. In the wild, they will eat acorns, but here in the suburbs, we have learned that given the choice between a peanut buried under a mass of acorns, they will go for the peanut even though it means extra work.

Not only do they like to eat the peanuts, but it is also quite a delight to watch them bury them. Science will also tell you that in the winter, a squirrel can find a peanut buried under an inch of snow; however, if you are holding one out to them, they’d rather take that then spend the morning sniffing around on the ground looking for the peanut they are positive they buried next to your porch.

Winter weather can also be predicted by watching the squirrel’s behavior. If the squirrel’s start burying peanuts shortly after having their second brood of young in mid-summer, start buying winter clothes because it will be a tough winter. The Eastern Gray Squirrel tends to use the “scatter hoarding” method of burying their peanuts. They will bury individual nuts in shallow holes, about 0-2 inches deep. This depth makes it easy for the squirrels to dig the peanuts back up, and the ones they don’t, often sprout into new trees (or peanut plants). According to Kim Long’s book “Squirrels: A Wildlife Handbook”, squirrels will regularly take nuts as far as 50 feet from the site they were found for burial. When digging a hole to bury their food, squirrels primarily use their front paws to scrape away the soil, then drop the food in the hole, and the uprooted dirt is piled back onto the site by their nose and paws.

So where do all the squirrels go at dusk? When backyard birdwatchers are scouting out the last couple of birds to come by for dinner, the squirrels are strangely absent, where do they go? Well, during late summer and fall, squirrels can often be found helping you pick up piles of leaves in your backyard. These leaf nests that are made by squirrels for shelter are called dreys. These nests can be separated from bird nests because they are typically bigger in size, and although eagles, hawks, owls, and crows can have nests as large, these are flattened at the top, and the squirrel nests are rounded. A typical squirrel nest is made up of branches and leaves on the outside, and the inside is lined with shredded bark, moss, and more leaves as insulating material. Squirrels generally keep these nests very clean, and periodically during the winter will build new nests or move the nest if there is a problem with the area. The Eastern Gray squirrel’s nest is an irregularly shaped nest placed on the outer branches of a tree. It is typically 15-20 inches wide, and about 12 inches high. Most of these nests can be built in a day, although additional material may be added over time, depending on weather conditions.

These nests can also be shared with other squirrels as the Gray Squirrel can coexist rather peacefully with other Gray Squirrels in the area, as long as the food supply is sufficient. In urban locations, sharing of nest sites is very common as there is usually a scarcity of suitable nest sites; however, in rural areas, the Eastern Gray Squirrel tends to be a solitary squirrel. In suburban and urban areas, it is not uncommon to find 1-16 squirrels per hectare. High population density often leads to shared feeding areas and nests.

In the spring, when the winter birds such as Juncos start to leave the area and the Robins return, the Eastern Gray Squirrels are just starting to bring out the first brood of baby Squirrels for the year. There are typically two mating seasons per year for the Eastern Gray Squirrel, one that occurs shortly after winter ends, and another the occurs towards the end of spring and beginning of summer. The gestation period averages about 44-46 days, with the litter size about three young per brood; however, depending on the climate and available food supply, they can have up to five young at a time. The young weight .5-.6 grams at birth, and the mother will wean them for about 8-9 weeks. Once they are weaned, they will venture outside of the nest looking for food, but do not stray far from the mother. The baby squirrels are born blind, hairless, and with their ear flaps closed. From birth they do have whiskers and claws though. Fur begins to grow at about 1-2 weeks after birth, and the eyes and ear flaps begin to open within 4-5 weeks.

So, what if you just don’t want squirrels going through your bird food and upsetting your birds, is there anything you can do? As of right now, the best line of defense is to either buy a new bird feeder that touts itself as being squirrel proof or get to know your squirrels. Spend some time reading about them, two very good books about squirrels, are Kim Long’s “Squirrels: A Wildlife Handbook”, and “Squirrels At My Window” by Grace Marmor Spruch. For a humorous look at a squirrels life, I recommend Richard E. Mallery’s “Nuts About Squirrels.”

Another sure fire way to get the squirrels to stay out of your feeders, invest in peanuts, and lots of them. Through observation, it can be noted that if you take one bag of peanuts and start throwing them out to the squirrels, in less than an hour, that bag will be empty. They don’t always eat what they take, but you can sit back and watch them bury the peanuts around your yard, or watch them try to keep other squirrels away with rapid tail beats and snapping teeth. But don’t worry about them, they are more gentle than they look like, but remember that they are wild animals just like the birds and deserve our respect, if for nothing else, their amazing ability to always find food.