

This may become an annoyance to gardeners with strict landscape requirements, especially when the garden contains edibles. Squirrels use their keen sense of smell to search for buried food, but can dig numerous holes in the process. Tree squirrels may bury food in the ground for later retrieval. On occasion, squirrels will chew through plastic and even metal to get to food. Their characteristic gnawing trait also aids in maintaining sharp teeth, and because their teeth grow continuously, prevents their over-growth. Squirrels are sometimes considered pests because of their propensity to chew on various edible and inedible objects, and their stubborn persistence in trying to get what they want. See also: Nuisance wildlife management and Electrical disruptions caused by squirrels Genus Protoxerus (African giant squirrels).Genus Myosciurus (African pygmy squirrel).Genus Epixerus (African palm squirrels).Tribe Protoxerini (African tree squirrels).Genus Tamiops (Asian striped squirrels).Genus Rubrisciurus (Sulawesi giant squirrel).Genus Prosciurillus (Sulawesi dwarf squirrels).Genus Nannosciurus (Asian dwarf squirrel).Genus Funambulus (Asian palm squirrels, introduced into Australia in the 1920s).Genus Exilisciurus (Asian pygmy squirrels).Genus Callosciurus (Oriental tree squirrels, introduced into Europe and South America).Subfamily Callosciurinae (Asian tree squirrels).Genus Tamiasciurus (American pine squirrels).Genus Syntheosciurus (Central American mountain squirrel).Genus Sciurus (Eurasian and American tree squirrels).Genus Rheithrosciurus (Borneo tufted ground squirrel).Genus Microsciurus (American dwarf squirrels).Tribe Sciurini (mostly American tree squirrels).Genus Sciurillus (South American pygmy squirrel).The following genera of the squirrel family are classified as tree squirrels. Many tree squirrel species have adapted to human-altered environments such as rural farms, suburban backyards and urban parks.Īmerican red squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)Ĭurrent taxonomy, based on genetic data, splits the tree squirrels into several subfamilies. The best known genus of tree squirrels is Sciurus, which includes the eastern gray squirrel of North America ( introduced to Great Britain in the 1870s), the red squirrel of Eurasia, and the North American fox squirrel, among many others.
#Fat squirrel skin
An exception is the flying squirrel that also makes its home in trees, but has a physiological distinction separating it from its tree squirrel cousins: special flaps of skin called patagia, acting as glider wings, which allow gliding flight. Tree squirrels live mostly among trees, as opposed to those that live in burrows in the ground or among rocks. The defining characteristic used to determine which species of Sciuridae are tree squirrels is dependent on their habitat rather than their physiology. They do not form a single natural, or monophyletic, group they are variously related to others in the squirrel family, including ground squirrels, flying squirrels, marmots, and chipmunks. Tree squirrels are the members of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) commonly just referred to as "squirrels." They include more than 100 arboreal species native to all continents except Antarctica and Oceania. A squirrel in the University of Cambridge Botanic Gardens
