Squirrels of the World

Sciurus niger 63

Sciurus niger niger. Photo courtesy Daniela Duncan.

til as late as 12 weeks afterward. Adult size is not reached
until after 1 year of age. Most individuals do not reproduce
until at least their yearling year; precocious breeding at 8.0
months by females has occurred. Natal dispersal takes
place soon after weaning, and all males and females leave
their natal area. Groups of unrelated males and (rarely) fe-
males nest together at night. Scent-marking with cheek
glands is used to mark trees, and these glands are smelled
when individuals greet each other. Traditional scent-mark-
ing sites are found in protected areas, such as under low
branches or on the underside of a slanted tree trunk; pri-
marily males gnaw the location and then wipe their cheeks
back and forth to deposit scent, and they sometimes uri-
nate to scent-mark.
Eastern fox squirrels feed heavily on tree seeds, but
they also eat fruits, buds, fl owers, fungi, herbs, and (occa-
sionally) animal matter such as insects, bird eggs, nestlings,
fi sh, and conspecifi cs. A conspicuous behavior of S. niger is
the annual scatter-hoarding of hard low-perishability nuts
and acorns each fall to serve as their winter food store. The
squirrels collect tree seeds near the parent tree, disperse to
greater distances, and bury them just under the surface.
These behaviors all serve to decrease the loss of this critical
food source to other seed predators. Caches are recovered
using a combination of spatial memory and olfactory cues.
The home ranges of individuals overlap considerably, but

females may defend exclusive-use cores, especially during

lactation. Resident adult females are important in regulating

ingress and settlement. Home ranges vary from 0.9 ha to

Sciurus niger avicennia. Photo courtesy Keith Bradley.