Squirrels are common and charismatic animals that frequently interact with human environments, from bustling city parks to quiet suburban backyards. Understanding their dietary habits offers insight into their ecological role and how they adapt to various landscapes. These agile rodents are classified as omnivores, meaning their diet naturally includes both plant and animal matter. This adaptable foraging behavior allows them to thrive in diverse habitats by utilizing available food sources throughout the year.
Natural Diet Staples
A squirrel’s natural diet consists of nuts, seeds, and fruits, providing essential energy and nutrients. Nuts like acorns, walnuts, pecans, hickory nuts, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are particularly favored for their high fat and protein content. These nutrient-dense foods are crucial, especially for colder months. They also consume seeds from trees, as well as sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, which they may find in natural settings or at bird feeders.
Fruits such as berries, apples, and wild fruits also contribute significantly to their diet, offering carbohydrates and natural sugars. Squirrels are well-known for their caching behavior, where they bury thousands of nuts and seeds throughout their territory. This hoarding ensures a food supply during scarcity, as squirrels do not hibernate and need continuous sustenance. They often create multiple small caches rather than one large one, a strategy known as scatter-hoarding, which helps protect their food from being entirely lost to thieves.
Diverse Dietary Adaptations
Beyond their staple foods, squirrels demonstrate remarkable dietary flexibility, consuming a wide array of other items based on availability and seasonal changes. They forage on various plant materials, including tree buds, flowers, and even bark, especially during spring and winter when other food sources might be scarce. Mushrooms and fungi also provide vitamins, proteins, and minerals.
As opportunistic feeders, their omnivorous nature extends to animal matter. They may eat insects like caterpillars, grubs, and even small invertebrates, particularly in spring and summer for added protein. Less commonly, but notably, squirrels have been observed preying on bird eggs and even nestlings, particularly when other food sources are limited. Some species, like flying squirrels, tend to have more carnivorous diets, occasionally consuming small animals such as mice or young snakes.
Foods to Never Offer
While squirrels are adaptable eaters, many common human foods are detrimental to their health and should never be offered. Processed foods, including salty snacks, sugary treats, and baked goods, lack the necessary nutrients and can cause digestive problems, obesity, and other health issues. Foods high in salt can lead to dehydration and kidney stress, while excessive sugar can result in dental problems and metabolic diseases.
Chocolate is toxic to squirrels due to the presence of theobromine, a stimulant they cannot metabolize effectively. Ingesting chocolate can cause severe symptoms, including tremors, increased heart rate, seizures, and even be fatal. Dairy products are also inappropriate, as most squirrels are lactose intolerant, leading to digestive upset. Bread offers minimal nutritional value and can expand in their stomachs, causing false fullness and malnutrition; moldy bread can also produce harmful mycotoxins. Corn should be given in very small quantities, as large amounts can lead to nutritional imbalances and, if moldy, can be toxic.