Squirrel it away story

Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes

Squirrel it away

They might be cranky and eccentric, but few steward a healthy forest ecosystem better than the red squirrel.

You might have heard: There is this new federal government program to plant two billion trees over ten years to help nature help us with a few environmental problems we’re facing.

But it’s not really a new program – at least if you’re a squirrel.

They’ve been planting millions of trees a year for free for millennia and one eccentric species – the red squirrel – might be the best forester of them all because it (not willingly) goes the extra mile for the forest and their neighbours.

Why do I say that?

Take the northern flying squirrel. Sure, it can distribute tree seeds far and wide because it can fly…except, actually, it can’t. Bats have flying trademarked amongst mammals; the flying squirrel can just glide. (Such a terribly misleading name, not really the flying squirrels’ fault, but alas.)

Red squirrels? They can jump. And thanks to a tail that is about as long as their body, it acts like a plane’s rudder and helps them jump far – like as far as some squirrels might ‘glide’. They also can descend trees headfirst (to get to seeds faster?) which is completely unrelated, but neat because few other animals have that skill.

Oh, wait, the red squirrel’s main predator has those same skills? Okay, well, how about this:

In any given year, a red squirrel might eat 20,000 tree cones. They amazingly know to focus their efforts on cones that pack the most energy first and because of their strong teeth, are able to break-open cones to access seeds that otherwise would only be dispersed by fire.

Red squirrel wins, moving on.

The golden mantle squirrel (which looks like an overfed chipmunk) is at home on the forest floor and that enables it to dig up fungi like nobody’s business. Which is amazing. Until you realize the red squirrel can do that too.

And the red squirrel dries its mushrooms before storing them, which is incredibly smart and health conscious. And it does that rudder jumping, headfirst-running descent, hard cone-breaking, high-energy seed-finding thing.

Red squirrel for the win.

And that brings us to the Columbian ground squirrel. What’s its evolutionary purpose?

Well, it sleeps for 70% of the year. So, that’s something. It is, however, stellar at interior design – it builds really nice underground homes, complete with water filtration systems and separate bedrooms for the kids (which matters when you sleep for 70% of the year).

Oh! And when the ground squirrel hibernates it has the lowest body temperature of any mammal, which by rights should give them brain damage, but doesn’t, so scientists might be able to learn from them about how to limit brain damage caused by strokes in people!

Very neat, but I’m not sure that was what nature had in mind when it evolved the ground squirrel and I think if an animal’s greatest attribute is sleeping for 70% of the year, (and greatest really isn’t the right word, is it?), plus half the day when it’s not hibernating, it’s fair to say the ground squirrel’s real role is as nature’s cannon fodder.

Or, in other words, the ground squirrel lives to feed other predators who are doing actual hard work in the ecosystem.

The red squirrel? Just give them the victory here.

It doesn’t sleep away its surprisingly long life. Nor does it bask in its ability to get the best seeds or dig up the best fungi. Sure, it might enjoy a few bites (cones, whatever, who’s counting?), but (unlike some squirrels) it knows it can’t sleep through the hard days of winter and so the red squirrel stashes its food.

That stash? Wow, does it matter – to us and a whole lot of other animals.

The seeds and the fungi mingle in the squirrel’s midden (mmm…nothing says bring on the winter like that combo, eh?), giving way to an ectomycorrhizal relationship.

What’s that?

Well, basically it’s a fancy way of saying the tree seeds help make sugar for the fungus which in turn is able to give the tree water and nutrients from the soil so both can do their thing more effectively.

And, as you know, when you start putting that ecto in the mycorrhizal, you get some pretty nice looking nutrient and carbon cycles (which helps all life live).

But there’s more!

Those stashes don’t just feed squirrels: they feed other species too.

In fact, scientists now think the red squirrel is such an effective stasher that numerous bird and mammal populations are sustained because red squirrels essentially act as their personal grocery shopper.

I mean, why spend days collecting pinecones when you can visit one midden and get a whole season’s worth of goodies?!

Grizzly bears certainly have this figured out. Their most important fall food is whitebark pine seeds, but unfortunately for the bears, they can’t reach to where the cones grow (remember, adult grizzlies can’t climb trees). But guess who can? Your friendly neighbourhood red squirrel.

The grizzly lumbers along in the fall, finds a whole season’s worth of whitebark pine seeds in the midden and just goes to town.

Grizzlies, who affect every aspect of the food chain, must have the whitebark pine to get through the winter months. Red squirrels, along with the Clark’s nutcracker, help seed this highly endangered tree and make sure the grizzly gets enough from it to survive.

Talk about keystone species.

Now, it’s here where we have to have some real talk:

The red squirrel doesn’t want to be a keystone species. It actually rather hates being one. Helping other species isn’t what the red squirrel is about – and it really doesn’t want to lose out on its food stash either.

So, it screams this rattle-like noise (think a loud, adorable rattlesnake) at anything that tries to get at its seeds or its midden or that just generally enters a forest that it considers its own.

You. Me. The grizzly bear. A fellow squirrel.

The red squirrel is like that super cranky neighbour down the street who yells at every car driving by to turn down the music.

via GIPHY

And also like that super cranky neighbour, the red squirrel hates everything and everyone…but also kinda, sorta wants to have you as a neighbour forever.

Why? Because the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.

Red squirrels have a hard time surviving past their first year in the wild, so they’ve learned – begrudgingly and with time – neighbours can help with that.

It’s believed red squirrels have actually developed unique alarm calls to alert their neighbours when different predators come calling:

Rattle rattle: “Grizzly coming! Hide the food.” Rattle, rattle, rattle: “Owl incoming! Take shelter!” Rattle, rattle, rattle: “Marten inbound! Deke to the left and jump for your life!”

Or something like that.

And as they build trust with their neighbours, red squirrels stop raiding each other’s middens, save energy by not fighting over territory and actually try to remain near that same trustworthy neighbour as they age because red squirrels actually live longer when they keep the same neighbour.

And that’s very cool.

Almost as cool as the marten, who preys on the red squirrel to keep its numbers in check and ensure it doesn’t over-plant or overeat.

Almost as cool as the red squirrel pooling food for other species, like grizzlies, who might disappear without it stashing whitebark pine seeds.

Almost as cool as that little chemistry experiment the squirrel does with the seeds and the fungi in its midden to help sustain forest life – all life.

And, certainly, cooler than the non-flying flying squirrel, the wannabe-chipmunk golden mantle or the almost-certainly-sleeping-when-you-read-this ground squirrel.

And none of this is what the red squirrel wants to be known for – it just wants to collect seeds and fungi and binge eat all winter (I mean, who doesn’t) – but it’s fair to say we’re grateful for this eccentric little rodent and all of the things it does to make our forests and our world better.

What do you think?

What strikes you most about the red squirrel?
What feature do you like best of the red squirrel? Why?
Do you have red squirrels in your area? If not, where is the closest region they exist?
What is a niche? What is the niche of the red squirrel?
Define any terms that you are unfamiliar with.
What is a keystone species? List an example of a keystone species in or near your community.
List the characteristics of the red squirrel that help them survive.
Explain what would happen if the red squirrel population declined. How might that affect you?
What don’t we know much about when it comes to the red squirrel? How might we find this out?