Stats

Lifespan: 8-13 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Omnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate deciduous forest
Range: North America
Movement: Climbing
Breeding: Live Birth
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

The fox squirrel is the largest tree squirrel native to North America, with rusty-orange underparts and a variable coat ranging from tawny gray-brown to nearly black. Each fall it buries thousands of acorns individually across a wide territory, relying on spatial memory to recover them through winter.

Life cycle

1.
newborn pup
A blind, hairless pup nurses in the nest and is unable to regulate its own warmth.
2.
juvenile
A weaned juvenile is fully furred, leaves the nest, and begins foraging on solid food.
3.
adult
Fully grown and self-sufficient.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Sciurus
Species: Sciurus niger