Flying squirrels terrorize more desirable wildlife when they monopolize feeders and nest in birdhouses. Tree squirrels are notorious for chewing objects like power lines, fascia boards, and trash cans, especially when trying to get indoors or reach food. Squirrelly BehaviorĪs members of the rodent family, squirrels have ever-growing teeth that need to be worn down through constant gnawing. Finally, flying squirrels use their parachute-like extra skin to glide from tree to tree. However, ground squirrels spend more time aboveground than other tunneling pests.
Some lack a large, fluffy tail, making them look a little like gophers, moles, or voles. On the other hand, marmots, chipmunks, prairie dogs, and other ground squirrels burrow beneath yards. Black, gray, red, and fox squirrels are all common in the United States. Tree-dwelling species build their nests in elevated areas like tree hollows, attics, and wall voids. Identifying squirrels is easy with a little knowledge about their habits and habitats. Some have stripes, light-colored fur on their bellies, or even change their coats depending on the season. In general, these pests range from 12 to 25 inches in length and have short fur in a variety of colors such as black, brown, gray, and red. There are three major varieties of the pests, tree, ground, and flying squirrels, though common species differ regionally.
Squirrels are small, furry mammals in the rodent family known for their big, bushy tails and propensity to store nuts for winter. When Should You Be Concerned About Zoonotic Diseases From Nuisance Wildlife? Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Up and Down arrows will open main level menus and toggle through sub tier links. Left and right arrows move across top level links and expand / close menus in sub levels. With something like a beaver that has such strong teeth prominently in the front, it’s always a good bet that they’re a chewer.The site navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Sharp canine teeth, like you would see on a cat or dog, is usually a sign of a predator.
If you look at the body and teeth of an animal, you can generally figure out what kind of habitat they live in and what they eat. They’re herbivores.Ī great rule of thumb with animals is that form follows function. Rabbits, on the other hand, are vegetarian. They have those honking huge teeth that are really great for chewing down the trees they use to make dams, their homes. Some rodents are more specialized, like beavers. Rodents tend to be omnivores, which means they can eat a little bit of everything.
The teeth have to be able to fit in their mouth so that they can keep eating.īeavers, chipmunks and squirrels are all in the rodent family. They have to take care of and maintain their teeth so they don’t grow too much. Just like your fingernails grow continually throughout your life – and you have to clip and file them to keep them healthy and strong – those animals have to chew a lot to keep those teeth nice and sharp. Squirrels, beavers, chipmunks and rabbits all have similarly-shaped teeth, because all of those animals have teeth that continually grow throughout their lives.