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Fall is a busy time for squirrels. In most parts of the US, you’ll see them everywhere — walking on wires, searching for food, and driving dogs crazy. How long do they live? Is a squirrel a rodent? How do they stay warm in the winter? Lets learn more.
1. How long do squirrels live? Compared to a dog or a cat, not that long — on average about one to two years. Some free roaming grey squirrels have actually surpassed 10 years in age, and one squirrel lived in captivity for 20 years. Learn more at bitly.com/2y0g3GV
2. Which is faster, an elephant or a squirrel? According to bitly.com/2yWeBmD squirrels run about 12 miles per hour. An elephant’s top speed is 25 miles per hour. The elephant wins this race, but can’t climb a tree.
3. How far can a squirrel jump… and fall? Squirrels are amazing jumpers… up to 10 feet straight up. See for yourself at https://youtu.be/j7-TtjltFWo. They can also survive a fall of up to 40 feet by using their tail as a parachute. Learn more at http://bitly.com/2youlSu.
4. Where do squirrels go in the winter? They don’t hibernate, but they do sleep a lot… wrapped in their warm tail. Here are some good links to learn more http://www.lpzoo.org/blog/what-do-squirrels-do-winter.
5. Is a squirrel a rodent? You’ll find a good discussion about this questions at Mental Floss bitly.com/2xRabQq. Squirrels are rodents belonging to the family Sciuridae. This is a large family of species that include chipmunks, prairie dogs, groundhogs (also called woodchucks), marmots, and flying squirrels.
APPLICATION
Set up a Squirrel obstacle course. We found guidebook (by Darrington, Gardner, Sims and Spivey) that provides step by step plans for making a course in your backyard bitly.com/2xYSRbB.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBVHzUUEKwnYjdV4Aj1wweYa4ADu6Ptc
