What is a squirrel?

Squirrel is a typical representative animal in cold temperate coniferous forest and mixed forest. Squirrels are dignified and light, and some are of medium size, with a body length of 18 ~ 28 cm, a tail length of 15 ~ 24 cm and a weight of 300 ~ 400 g. Some are very small, from the African pygmy squirrel, which is about 7- 10 cm long and weighs about 100 g. At most, it is as big as a woodchuck (woodchuck), about 53-73 cm long and weighs about 5-8 kg. Squirrels are mostly typical small arboreal animals with slender bodies, which are particularly small against the soft and thick hair. Female individuals are slightly heavier than male individuals. Squirrels have five maxillary molars and four mandibular molars, and the number of molars varies. Squirrels have no skin wings between their front and rear limbs, and their limbs are strong and slender, with long limbs, front and rear feet and longer hind limbs, but their front limbs are shorter than their rear limbs, with sharp claws on their toes and sharp hooks on their toes, and their claw ends are hooked. Chipmunks and squirrels have cheek pouches inside their cheeks, which can store a lot of food. The tail is long and thick, more than two-thirds of the body length, but not as long as the body. The tail hair is long, thick and fluffy, and often rolls back. The eyes are big and bright, the nose is thick, the ears are long, and the ear shell is developed, which can reach the eyes when folded forward. There is a tuft of hair at the tip of the ear, especially in winter. Squirrels will change their hair according to the season. Some of them have red hair all over their bodies in summer, and in autumn they will change into black-gray winter hair, covering their whole bodies tightly. Some summer hair is dark brown or reddish brown; The side ring of winter hair is lined with gray, smoky gray and grayish brown, and the abdominal hair is mostly white. Squirrels mostly inhabit coniferous forests and coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests in cold temperate zones, especially in forests on both sides of hillsides or river valleys. Squirrels like to live alone at the edge of trees, some also nest on dense branches, or use abandoned nests of crows and magpies, and sometimes nest in tree holes. During the day, it is good at climbing and jumping on trees, and its long furry tail plays a balance role. When jumping, support your body with your hind legs, keep your tail straight, and jump up to more than ten meters. Squirrels don't hibernate, but in snowy days and extremely cold weather, squirrels will seal their holes with hay and hold up their long furry tails to keep warm, so that they can stay in their holes for several days and come out for food when the weather is warm.