October is Squirrel Awareness Month, an opportunity to shine a light on all the mammals present in our local ecosystem.
Charlotte Devitz, a student at the University of Minnesota, is pursuing a doctoral degree in ecology, evolution, and behavior and will study how aspects of the urban environment affect squirrels. She realized that the city offers both benefits and consequences for furry rodents.
Davids said the benefits of urban environments for squirrels include abundant food and a lack of natural predators. But Davids added that living in cities increases squirrels’ intake of microplastics and increases their exposure to new predators: cars.
“You’re at much greater risk of being hit by a car,” Davids said. “And of course, domestic dogs and cats can be a threat as well.”
Davids said urban squirrels can thrive in an environment that is just as good, if not better, than rural squirrels.
“Cities have higher population densities because there are so many resources available,” Davids says. “That suggests some success, and that these individuals are producing more offspring.”
Fourth-grader Sandra Liu said she worked with Davids on research to analyze squirrel behavior by catching squirrels and collecting samples.
Before doing this research, Liu had only considered squirrels as part of the “urban wildlife puzzle.” She said she now understands how important they are to the environment.
“You see them eating Subway sandwiches or something, and they’re behaving in a way that allows them to adapt very well to the changes that have occurred,” Liu said. “Urbanization has changed their environment a lot, and it’s really amazing how they can adapt.”
Squirrels seen around campus are not limited to those commonly seen in urban areas, such as red squirrels, ground squirrels, and fox squirrels. Professor Anna Mangan, an ecologist at the university’s Duluth campus, said flying squirrels are also very common and can be identified by their small stature and the way they glide from tree to tree at night.
Mangan focuses on flying squirrels in a mammal ecology project that studies flying squirrel populations and distribution.
Squirrels are important to the ecosystem because they carry tree seeds and are a major food source for predators such as hawks, coyotes and foxes, Davids said.
“I think most people are familiar with them in that they’re in people’s backyards and parks and things like that,” Davids said. “But I think it’s just a matter of recognizing that they’re not just a backyard pest, they have such an important role to play.”
Brett is co-owner of the Minnesota branch of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, a human wildlife company focused on removing squirrels from homes, as up to 70% of squirrels die within 30 days.・Mr Robertson said he wanted to get rid of the squirrels safely without trapping them. A few days after being locked up.
Robertson said the house has a one-way door that allows the squirrels to get out but not back in. If a baby squirrel is found not moving, it is manually removed and placed in a heated box outside until its mother returns.
“Everything we do is to keep (them) out of people’s homes and keep them safe,” Robertson said.
Davids said it’s important to understand that squirrel behavior is natural and not intended to be a deliberate nuisance.
“The reality is they were here before we were,” Davids said. “We have urbanized much of the country. Squirrels are here along with all the other wildlife. As cities continue to expand, it becomes increasingly important that they learn to coexist. I think it’s going to increase, especially for the squirrels because they have nowhere to go.”
