What Is a Squirrel’s Natural Diet and How Does It Get Its Food?

Squirrels are predominantly herbivores. Flying squirrels, ground squirrels and tree squirrels have a little overlap in their diet; nonetheless, they largely eat different things. Some are even opportunistic diet- they eat anything they find when hungry. You can get a hint of the urban squirrel diet basing on their wild counterparts. For instance, flying squirrels are nocturnal in nature and live in old growth forests and have a wide scope of feeds compared to the ground squirrelsthat are diurnal and live on the prairie.

The popular foods squirrels eat
Squirrels pretty much adapt to any environment they find themselves in.Whether in the urban or in the wild, there are some feeds squirrels find irresistible:

• Nuts
• Native fruits and berries
• Vegetables
• Insects
• Flowers and
• Fungi They have an omnivorous trait since they mix their diet with plants and animals. This increases their survival chances at all costs and also expand their palates.

How squirrels get food
Beside the handouts from human, the rodents are hunters and gatherers. They are good planners and know their seasons best. Since they are also futuristic and pessimistic, they dig up burrows and store food whenever it is bountiful. Hiding food in numerous different places warrants them food safety whenever another hideout is invaded by other animals or squirrels. Sometimes food is hidden temporarily, until a more convenient location is found. Squirrelscan dig a shallow midden for storing cones. The pit is then covered with debris and leaves to create a cold and moist condition for storage.They scramble around their habitats foraging for more goodies most of the time.

How do they like fruits?
Name any fruit, yes, a squirrel will eat that. They will eat any fruit with enthusiasm. You can spot them happily munching and hoarding fruits around any fruit tree, vine or bush. Be it plums, grapes, avocadoes, fig, mangoes or peaches, they will eat them with ease not forgetting all the berries. Squirrels also munch bananas, watermelons and other melons. The benefits of these fruits is to boost their sugar level providing them with energy to keep going.

Cereals and vegetables
Squirrels basically eat a variety of vegetables. They will chow down any leafy green such as, lettuce, spinach and kale. They alsofeed on tomatoes, corn, squash, peas, carrots, cabbage and cauliflower among others. They also devour grains and nut incorporated in many cereals. The bottom-line is that squirrels have evolved to eat anything they find edible.