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Fox squirrels in Ohio prefer hickory nuts, acorns, corn, and black walnuts. The squirrels are absent where two or more of these mast trees are missing. Fox squirrels also eat buckeyes, seeds and buds of maple and elm, hazelnuts (Corylus spp.), blackberries (Rubus spp.), and tree bark. In March, they feed mainly on buds and seeds of elm, maple ...
Buckeye also makes a good fireboard for a bow drill or hand drill. Native groups occasionally used the plant as a food supply; after boiling and leaching the toxin out of the seeds or nut meats for several days, they could be ground into a flour or meal similar to that made from acorns. [ 3 ]
The next couple weeks is the perfect time to start collecting buckeyes from the trees before the squirrels begin dining on them.
They do not form a single natural, or monophyletic, group; they are variously related to others in the squirrel family, including ground squirrels, flying squirrels, marmots, and chipmunks. The defining characteristic used to determine which species of Sciuridae are tree squirrels is dependent on their habitat rather than their physiology .
Squirrels are foragers, which means that they collect food — things like nuts and berries. A squirrel may build up a cache of extra food for when they don’t have time to go out and find a meal.
The tree, a member of the horse chestnut family, earned its name for its large, nut-like seed, which is shiny and dark brown with a light-colored spot said to resemble a deer’s eye.
Kaibab squirrels usually have a black belly (which is sometimes gray), white tail, tufted ears and chestnut brown back. [3] The tufts on the ears grow longer with age and may extend 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) above the ears in the winter, and may not be visible in the summer.
During hot periods, squirrels have been documented to sploot, or lay their stomachs down on cool surfaces. [26] Squirrels, like other rodents, employ species-specific strategies to store food, buffering against periods of scarcity. [27] In temperate regions, squirrels commonly cache nuts beneath leaf litter, inside hollow trees, or underground ...