1918] 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE RED SQUIRREL. 



By a. B. Klugh, M.A., Department of Animal Biology, 

 Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. 



For the past eight months, that is from October 

 to May inclusive, I have had a male Red Squirrel 

 (Sc'turus hudsonicus loquax ), under almost daily 

 observation. The conditions for acquiring informa- 

 tion on the normal behaviour of this species have 

 been practically ideal. This squirrel is not tame 

 and I have purposely refrained from any efforts to 

 render it so, since conclusions drawn from the 

 actions of a tame animal are of very doubtful value 

 when applied to the species in the wild state. It 

 has made its headquarters in a large sugar maple 

 tree which grows beside the house, the main limbs 

 of which are on a level with, and close to, my 

 second-story verandah, while the tips of the 

 branches are on a level with a window on the third 

 story. 



The reason why the squirrel selected this tree as 

 its headquarters is not far to seek, as last year this 

 maple produced an exceedingly bountiful crop of 

 keys, which were lying thickly on the ground be- 

 neath it and on the roof, while all the other trees 

 in the vicinity are soft maples whose keys had long 

 ago germinated. 



FOOD. 



The main natural source of food supply of the 

 squirrel has been the keys of the sugar maple; the 

 second most important has been the buds of both 

 soft and sugar maple. During April it consumed 

 considerable quantities of buds, first of the soft 

 maple and later, when the buds of the latter species 

 had expanded, turning its attention to those of the 

 sugar maple. After the leaves of the sugar maple 

 were about one-third expanded it cut off a good 

 many of the four-leaved sprays and ate the tender 

 young stem, allowing the leaves to fall to the 

 ground. 



At the end of March, when the sap was flowing 

 from broken twigs of the sugar maple and running 

 down the under-side of the branches, the squirrel 

 devoted most of its time to drinking sap. In order 

 to get at this sap it had in most cases to hang up- 

 side-down, in the manner shown in Figure 1 . When 

 thus hanging from a small branch both fore and 

 hind feet were clasped about the branch so that 

 the toes nearly met on top of the branch. When 

 hanging from a large limb its position looked a 

 good deal more precarious, but it maintained its 

 hold with ease and certainty, and though I saw it 

 thus suspended from large limbs over a hundred 

 times I never saw a single slip. When in this pos- 



ition it relied chiefly on its hind legs, and there was 

 a decided bend outward in these legs at the tarsal 

 joint, this bend evidently enabling the claws to catch 

 the crevices of the bark more effectively. 





Figr. 1 Sciuirrel in position assumed 

 when drinkins -sap. 



When drinking sap it laps it up, its tongue going 

 at a tremendous rate. 



I have tried the squirrel with many different 

 articles of food, such as meat, vegetables and nuts. 

 For green vegetables, such as cabbage and celery, 

 it has no great fondness. It likes meat, but its 

 favorite food is undoubtedly nuts hazels, walnuts, 

 beechnuts and hickories. It also relishes sweet 

 substances, as candy and jam. 



MANNER OF EATING. 

 When eating anything which can be picked up 

 it invariably takes it between its fore-paws, and sits 

 up in the position shown in Figure 2. The position 





Fig. 2 Squirrel in characteristic 

 eating attitude. 



