Squirrels

Abby Brown:

Think about an area where you've been before that has big trees; could have even been in your backyard. What sort of creatures live there? 

Do you know any creatures that live in trees?

Abram:

Squirrels.

Abby:

Squirrels do live in trees. What else do you know about squirrels?

Abram:

They eat acorns.

Abby:

They sure do. And where do acorns come from?

Abram:

They come from trees!

Abby:

So why do you think they like to live in trees so much?

Abram:

So they could pick the acorn and just nibble on it.

Abby:

You got it! We have several different types of squirrels in Iowa. Some look for food in the daytime even taking from feeders intended for birds. And some squirrels are nocturnal, meaning they are mostly active at night time, like the flying squirrel, which, by the way, doesn't really fly; it glides using really cool folds of skin that extend from its wrists to its ankles. Those skin flaps open up to catch the breeze kind of like the sail on a sailboat making it look like the squirrel is really flying.

Abby:

Katie, tell me about the squirrels at Hartman.

Katie Klus: So we have a lot of squirrels because we have a lot of big trees. So squirrels obviously need big trees and it's kind of like a highway system, they're able to connect throughout the entire forest just by moving from tree to tree. And since we have so many close together they can just keep moving back and forth.

Katie:

We have three kinds of squirrels which is kind of cool.

Abby:

Yeah.

Katie:

So we have fox squirrels, which are like the big brown ones you see in your backyard.

Abby:

Yep.

Katie:

And then we have gray squirrels which are a little smaller.

Abby:

And gray?

Katie:

And they're gray.

Abby:

Okay.

Katie:

They can also be black or white like the ones you see, the black squirrels.

Abby:

But they're still called gray squirrels?

Katie:

They're still called gray squirrels because the first person who saw the saw them and named them, that one was it was a gray.

Abby:

Okay, gotcha.

Katie:

And the type the third type is called a jack squirrel.  And a jack squirrel, or a American red squirrel, very small, and it's kind of a maroonish red, and they're very loud. Just like the tiniest humans, they're the smallest but they're the loudest; so they are really fun to watch. And so all these squirrels live together in our woods and they put their nests up high in the sky in the trees so it's really fun to go and like try to see how many you can count when you're in the woods.

Abby:

And what do they eat?

Katie:

Okay squirrel's big thing is nuts, nuts all day long.

Abby:

Which is why they like trees.

Katie:

Right, and why we have a lot, too, because we have a lot of nut producing trees; everything from oak trees that have acorns, walnuts, hickories. Those all have really big nuts that are full of protein.

Abby:

Whether you're at an urban nature preserve like the one here in Waterloo or in your very own neighborhood, chances are if you can see big trees you're gonna see a squirrel or two, So when you do stop and think about how that tree provides the perfect habitat for our furry little friends.

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