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How to feed squirrels in winter - the rules of feeding and the diet of the animal in nature

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A squirrel is a rodent that belongs to the squirrel family. Squirrels are siblings, ground squirrels, flying squirrels and marmots. According to the variety of species, they can only indulge with the mouse family. The main difference between squirrels and their relatives is a beautiful tail, which makes up seventy-five percent of the total body length.

Depending on the season, the rodent is able to change its color. In the summer, the whites are red or brown, in the winter they are gray. The breast most often remains white. In nature, there are various proteins - black, albino and spotty. The type of rodent largely determines the color of the main part of the body - the tail. Depending on it, the animal may be brown-tailed, gray-tailed, black-tailed and red-tailed. The latter are more common in our area.

The life span of a squirrel is ten to twelve years, but the animal does not live in the wild for more than four years. The rodent lives mainly in the forest area, building a dwelling in hollows, nests. It is in the woods that the animal is easier to get food. Squirrels stock up on supplies that they find. People more often meet an animal in urban conditions, mainly in green areas. Next, it will be about what the protein in the park is fed and what they eat.

Why did squirrels migrate to cities?

The relocation of small forest dwellers to cities can be easily explained. The main cause of this phenomenon is the destruction of human natural habitat. Due to the uncontrolled anthropogenic influence on the nature, proteins began to move closer to people. Many animals live in attics, in basements, do not hesitate to eat from garbage cans.

Some rodents have chosen the greenery of cities, parks and forest belts. Many people want to help these funny little animals and wonder what the squirrels feed in the park. By the way, the population of rodents also depends on the ability to get food. Thus, the squirrel will reproduce as many offspring as it will be able to feed.

What harm do proteins do?

Not everyone is concerned about the protein in the park. Many residents believe that these rodents have no place in the city, and squirrels only bring harm. In a sense, city dwellers are right. Proteins suffer from infections that are not dangerous for humans. But at the same time, they carry a variety of harmful microorganisms. From this animal you can pick up tularemia, coccidiosis and other diseases. Proteins are carriers of worms, ticks and fleas. The animals can bite a person with their sharp teeth, but they also often damage power lines. In search of a winter shelter, squirrels often use attics, verandas and impose their own rules there.

What do proteins eat in their natural environment?

In order to know how to feed the squirrels in the park, you need to understand what the animal eats, being in its natural habitat. As a rule, proteins choose available foods that are enriched with nutrients. This list includes:

  • hazelnuts,
  • acorns
  • seeds of conifers,
  • mushrooms,
  • berries,
  • roots.

If a rodent usually needs about forty grams of food per day, then during the breeding period the required amount is exactly doubled. In addition, at this time, the animal consumes quite specific food: insect larvae, bird eggs, chicks and small vertebrates. In times of famine, squirrels feed on buds, tree bark, lichen and needles. Animals, obeying instincts, do everything to survive. The animal belongs to omnivorous mammals, but the organism of proteins hardly digests cellulose, therefore it does not feed on grass.

What feed protein in the zoo?

What the squirrels are fed in the park is mainly given in the zoo. In a specialized institution for the maintenance of animals in captivity, the rodent is fed quite diversely. Zoo staff monitor the rate of food issued by the animal. If the food will be given in excessive amounts, it will lead to inactivity and obesity.

The diet of the rodent in the zoo includes:

  • bread (but only wheat, since other varieties are difficult for the animal to digest; slightly dried, "yesterday's" bread is allowed,
  • wood, walnut, pine, ground nuts,
  • chestnuts
  • sunflower seeds and pumpkin,
  • carrot,
  • cabbage,
  • fruits and berries,
  • dried fruits,
  • sugar,
  • cookies (galetny),
  • hemp,
  • dried mushrooms,
  • salad,
  • cottage cheese,
  • milk,
  • butter,
  • egg,
  • honey,
  • jam,
  • salt,
  • a piece of chalk,
  • flour,
  • worms
  • a fish,
  • branches,
  • bumps
  • needles.

What do squirrels like?

How to feed squirrels in the park, if not cookies? According to the observations we can say that the animals prefer small crackers without salt, so that before the walk it is better to purchase “Zoological” or “Mary”. But other sweets are better not to give rodents. Although the zoo squirrels and give honey, but it is allowed very rarely, and in small doses. Sweet cookies, candy and chocolate of a rodent should not be fed.

In addition, the animal can be given vegetables or fruits. The animal likes watermelon, apples, pears and bananas. What are some people feeding in the park than squirrels? For example, boiled eggs. If the squirrel ate only one piece, and the other carried it to the shelter, then you shouldn’t feed the animal anymore. An animal that is not hungry, stocks, but often forgets where it hides food. This situation occurs in places of frequent feeding of squirrels. This rodent must also move in search of food itself, otherwise it will become non-self-sufficient and will simply die.

What nuts to give to squirrels?

Many consider nuts to be the favorite delicacy of these rodents. Indeed, the best feeding for them is a mixture of nuts and seeds. But what kind of nuts to feed the protein in the park? The mixture should not be salted and not fried. Nuts do not need to be peeled from the shell. Is that the walnuts can be slightly pinned, because if the protein is not too hungry, then it will be just too lazy to extract the core. Most likely, the animal simply buries delicacy.

The mixture must be prepared in advance. It may consist of hazelnuts, peanuts, pine and walnuts. As an addition, sunflower, pumpkin, watermelon and melon seeds are added to it.

What can not feed a squirrel?

For example, how to feed squirrels in Gorky Park? Many people go for a walk every day and often meet these cute little animals. For example, the top-dressing should not contain harmful substances, carcinogens, preservatives, dyes, flavors. Fried, salted, sweet and smoked products are not suitable for food. That is, it is impossible to offer squirrel as a treat for chips, crackers or salty crackers. Do not give the animal bones from cherries, cherries, apricots, peaches, as well as chocolate, rye, mushrooms (mushrooms or oyster mushrooms). But the most dangerous for the body is proteins almonds. The impact of such a nut on the animal is equivalent to poison.

Diet proteins in natural habitat

In nature, squirrels feed mainly on plant food, although they are omnivores. Researchers in squirrels in nature report more than 130 feeds that they use. The amount of food consumed per day depends on the season: from 30-35 g in winter to 80 g in spring in the mating season.

Favorite dainty squirrels in the forest

The list of the most common food animal is small:

  • seeds of coniferous trees,
  • young branches, bark, buds, tree leaves, needles,
  • hazelnuts, acorns,
  • mushrooms,
  • berries and fruits
  • animal feed,
  • tubers, rhizomes, as well as the ground part of herbaceous plants, lichens.

The proportion of the latter in the diet of proteins is insignificant, but it significantly increases with the failure of other feeds. The main part of the diet consists of seeds of conifers, among them also distinguish more and less preferred. The pine nuts are the most delicious for the animals, then the seeds are eaten, larch, fir, pine. In the event of a poor harvest, animals can migrate and migrate in search of food.

Feed of animal origin is consumed mainly after winter, during the breeding season. Proteins can also eat bird eggs, chicks, insects, frogs, small mammals. The bones of animals and thrown down horns of forest ungulates gnaw.

Features of food in the winter

For the winter, squirrels make stocks of food. Cones, nuts and acorns in small quantities are buried in the ground or hidden in hollows and nests, which are always several in one squirrel. They also collect mushrooms, then dry them on the branches of trees.

However, furry animals often forget about their reserves and, as a rule, find them by chance, thanks to a developed sense of smell. Squirrel "forgetfulness" contributes to the renewal of the forest, because intact supplies spring germinate. In addition, they can be found by other animals. The squirrel also successfully uses other people's stores (mice, chipmunks and other rodents).

In the cold season, these animals eat a little. The bad weather is waited in hollows and nests, and they never leave them at all in severe frosts, falling into a semi-dormant state and using stocks. The fastest time for squirrels is the end of winter and early spring. It is known that the lack of food in the winter, as well as infectious diseases, kill up to 85% of young squirrels.

How to help the squirrel survive the winter

Carrying the cold is better in fullness, knowing that many people are trying to help the proteins by feeding them. In addition, at this time, you can quite unexpectedly become the owner of a weakened or maimed animal. In such cases, it is important to know how to feed the protein in the winter in domestic and natural conditions, how and when it is best to feed.

The optimal diet of proteins for the full existence of nature

Food that you can feed the animal is very diverse. But, even knowing what products will be useful for protein, it is very difficult for a beginner to navigate and make a menu. For example, consider the norms of products and the frequency of their issuance of proteins in the zoo. Below is a diet for one animal.

  • wheat bread - 10 g,
  • hazelnuts - 10 g,
  • cedar nuts - 10 g,
  • ground nuts - 10 g,
  • sunflower seeds - 10 g,
  • pumpkin seeds - 10 g,
  • fruits, berries - 2 g,
  • dried fruits - 2 g,
  • hemp - 2 g each,
  • dry mushrooms - 2 g,
  • salad - 2 g,
  • cottage cheese - 2 g,
  • milk - 2 g,
  • butter - 2 g each,
  • salt - 2 g,
  • flour worm - 2 g,
  • fish - 2 g,
  • grass, branches - in unlimited quantities,
  • cones - in unlimited quantities,
  • needles - in unlimited quantities.

  • chestnut - 10 g every other day,
  • chicken egg - 1 g every other day,
  • apples - 5 g every other day,
  • carrots - 5 g every other day,
  • cabbage - 5 g every other day.

Also in the menu should be present:

  • walnuts - 10 g in 2 days,
  • chalk - 2 g alternate,
  • bone meal - alternate 2 g each,
  • honey - 2 g alternate,
  • jam - 2 g alternate,

At home, it is almost impossible to stick to such a varied menu. Here it is important to take into account that such vegetable food as branches, grass, green cones, sunflower seeds or pumpkins, vegetables and fruits should be always in squirrels. Heavier fatty foods (nuts and seeds) should be given in small portions once a day, towards evening.

Many eaten fat adversely affect the health of the liver of the animal. Some experts recommend at home to feed the squirrel nuts of different species. For example, today - walnuts, tomorrow - forest, the day after tomorrow - cedar (no more than a tablespoon).

In addition, do not forget about animal products and water. Keep in mind that the presence of hidden foods indicates that you need to reduce the portion. The squirrel should also have constantly clean water, the drinker should be slightly raised so that the animal does not turn it over.

Suitable Products for Feeding Protected Proteins

Food can be fresh, dried and frozen; fruits are usually given in small pieces. In addition, each squirrel has individual preferences, what one likes, may not cause interest in other animals. They can not eat the whole fruit, and chopped and peeled to absorb with pleasure. Ignore the proposed berries in bulk, but deliciously nibble them from the sprig.

Squirrel can offer:

  • nuts (necessarily in the shell) - hazelnuts, walnut, cedar, acorns (fresh and frozen), sweet chestnut, fruits of hornbeam, beech,
  • seeds in the shell - sunflower, pumpkin, watermelon,
  • green cones and cones (fresh and frozen) - spruce, larch, pine, fir, thuja, cedar,
  • fruits (fresh, frozen, dried, seeds and seeds must be removed) - apple, pear, peach, apricot, banana, nectarine, watermelon, quince,
  • berries (fresh, dried, frozen) - lingonberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, mountain ash, cranberries, blackberries, viburnum, rosehips, sea buckthorn, hawthorn, chokeberry, currants, shadberry, mulberry, cherry (without a stone), cherry (without seeds), grapes (fresh, seedless),
  • vegetables - pumpkin (fresh, dried), beets (fresh, dried), cucumber, kohlrabi (fresh), carrots (fresh, dried), corn (fresh, frozen, dried), sunflower inflorescence, with fresh seeds,
  • dried fruits (pitted) - raisins, cherries, apricots, plums, cranberries,
  • mushrooms (fresh, frozen, dry) - white mushroom, aspen, boletus, boletus, chanterelle, polish, boletus, russula, honey agaric (fresh), mushrooms, chaga, tinder present,
  • branches, leaves, inflorescences, buds - birch, willow, maple, oak, hazel, larch, aspen, spruce, linden, pine, mulberry, hornbeam, rowan, apple, cherry, plum, can be with small green fruits,
  • grasses - dandelion, woodlouse, salsify, cornwood, sorrel, oxalis, clover, milky ripeness of cereals on the stems, young shoots of oats,
  • Products of animal origin - chicken and quail (raw and boiled) eggs, cottage cheese, dry beef and fish bones, flour worm, ant pupae.

All products must be fresh, unspoiled and of good quality.

What can not be fed protein - prohibited foods

The basic rule of choosing food for a squirrel - if you do not know what kind of plant it is (mushroom, berry, grass) - it is better not to give it. Forbidden include:

  • fast food and other "human" shopping,
  • nuts and seeds from the supermarket - salted, sweetened, flavored, roasted,
  • almond,
  • bones of fruits and berries,
  • mushrooms - poisonous and those that need pretreatment (milk mushrooms, waves, pigs, morels, stitches), as well as champignons and oyster mushrooms,
  • branches, leaves, fruits - apricot (fruit pulp can be), almond, lilac, yew, elderberry, buckthorn,
  • poisonous herbaceous plants: belladonna, nightshade, crested, lily of the valley, kupena and others.

Rules for feeding protein on nature and in parks of culture

Protein in their house is heated units, most trying to feed red beauties in parks, squares, forests or even in their own garden. Given the above lists of products, you can easily assemble a package of assistance to needy animals. Naturally, the most convenient for this purpose are dried fruits, mixtures of nuts, seeds, wheaten crackers.

Random treats and feed on walks

Feed the squirrel in nature in two ways. The most common is when, walking through the park, people meet animals that are lured and subsequently fed with food.

Adults and children get a lot of pleasure when a brave squirrel takes the proposed product straight from the hands. This option is the perfect combination of benefits for people and animals, but its drawbacks are also obvious:

  1. First, the squirrel still needs to be found, or she needs to find you.
  2. Secondly, fertilizing in this way is irregular.

Organization of constant feeders

More rational option for feeding - feeding. You can install it almost everywhere where the furry animal lives. At the same time in public places to put food everyone can. The feeding trough installed on a private territory can become an additional decorative element of the plot, its highlight. In this case, you can watch the squirrel, without leaving your home.

When choosing a trough model, it is necessary to take into account that it must be with a roof and a flat floor. The material is preferably untreated wood. The open sides of the feeders will allow the birds to feast on treats. To all that the proposed squirrel, did not get the crows, you can cut small holes in solid walls. More original designs are also available, for example, a feeder in a can.

Obviously, helping animals and birds to survive the winter is not very hard. You just need not be indifferent. The use of high-quality natural and unprocessed products will bring the maximum benefit to the little animals and will cheer people up. Be sure to tell your friends how to feed squirrels in the winter and what foods it is dangerous for them to save as many animals as possible.

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What do squirrels eat in captivity and in parks?

Squirrels eat a variety of foods - they are omnivorous rodents. If you look at the "Book of rations" of the Moscow City Zoo, then we will see a detailed menu for small rodents:

  • White wheat bread (no more than 10 g per day),
  • Pine nuts, hazelnut and raw unsalted peanuts (10 g per day),
  • Walnut (10 g every 3 days),
  • Carrots, cabbage and apples 5 g in one day,
  • Chestnut (a little every other day),
  • Sunflower seeds, pumpkins (10 g every day),
  • Berries, fruits, dried fruits, sweet cookies, hemp seeds, lettuce and dried mushrooms (2 g per day),
  • Milk, cottage cheese and butter, 2 - 3 g per day,
  • No more than 1 g of chicken eggs per day,
  • Honey, jam, bone meal, fish and chalk (alternate between each other, not more than 2 g per day),
  • Grass, cones, fresh shoots of plants and needles in unlimited quantities.

Do not overfeed the animals - it is bad for their mobility and often leads to sad consequences. If the squirrel lives in the park, then an excessive diet leads to obesity, which is why it will not be able to independently search for food in the right quantities.

Protein in squares or houses is allowed to feed unsalted and not very sweet cookies, white bread croutons (dried, but not fried) and other goodies, but in small quantities. Due to unnatural food, the rodent can begin serious problems with digestion and teeth.

What squirrels are absolutely impossible?

Never treat squirrels with such delicacies:

  • Smoked, salty or too sweet foods,
  • Salty beer snacks - chips and salted roasted peanuts, crackers with aromatic additives, crackers, salted fish,
  • Fried foods (including peanuts and sunflower seeds),
  • Exotic fruits and nuts, especially almonds (it is poison for them).

What do squirrels eat?

Cute fluffy squirrels - one of the inhabitants of the rich inhabitants of the taiga. Favorite heroes of children's stories and cartoons, squirrels are portrayed by thrifty hostesses, hiding nuts and mushrooms for the winter. Yes, and from the hands of people, these friendly animals are happy to eat nuts. Therefore, many people do not have a question about what squirrels eat and what to offer to sociable beauties in the forest at a meeting, however this is not their whole diet.

What kind of animal is a squirrel?

The squirrel (Latin Sciurus) is a rodent that lives in forests around the world except Australia. They can live in coniferous and deciduous forests. And, of course, love to live next to people. They understand that we are a source of food for them, and if you feed a squirrel at a dacha, she will come to you the next day for supplementation.

These animals live on trees and really store food for the winter, since all the cold times do not leave the dwelling and are in a half asleep state. The biggest love of squirrels is gnawing. Very often, having mixed up with a sprig of a tree, they stumble upon electrical wires. There are several cases in history when the stock index of large energy companies has decreased due to proteins.

This is a beautiful and amazing animal, and what squirrels eat can also surprise you.

What eat these fluffy animals?

We have seen many times that they eat squirrels in cartoons and fairy tales, but their diet is much more varied.

The main feature of these animals is that they do not digest fiber, so they eat food rich in proteins and fats.

With pleasure squirrels dine with insects, eggs and even small animals and frogs. In tropical countries where there are practically no walnut trees and shrubs, it is animal protein that replaces them with nuts.

In spring, when the seeds begin to germinate, and new ones have not yet appeared, the main plant foods are buds and mushrooms.

How to feed a squirrel at home?

These fluffy animals are very intelligent and clean, so they can be a wonderful pet. However, because of love to nibble everything, it is better to keep them in a spacious cage, sometimes letting them go for a walk around the apartment.

What squirrels eat in captivity should not differ significantly from the usual diet:

Nuts Anything but almond will do. Also, be careful to feed the peanuts and sunflower seeds,

Acorns. You can get out into the woods and collect this delicacy as much as you want,

Fruits (apples, pears). In very limited quantities,

Berries. Only forest, and only in season,

Special feed for rodents. They can easily be found at the pet store,

Quail eggs. Give should be raw, but very rarely.

If people care about eating squirrels, living as pets or visiting a country plot, the animals are able to please people under twelve years of age. However, even feeding these fluffies in the park, you take responsibility for their health, so you should follow a certain diet to which they are accustomed.

In winter, urban forests are often visited by city residents, bringing with them treats for birds and squirrels. And indeed, seeing slowly running squirrels, fussy tits and nuthatches, many of us can not resist in order not to treat the forest dwellers with something tasty. Someone deliberately carries food into the forest and spills it in specially installed feeders or on stumps, someone decides to treat a bird or squirrel with something that happened to be in his pocket at the moment. And these little creatures gladly accept everything that we offer them. However, they do not really understand what kind of treat. And the main trouble is that many even have no idea how you can feed the birds and squirrels.

An example of this is the slides of moldy fruits, vegetables, crusts of black and white bread on stumps, fried fish, pickled tomatoes in the feeders. The “Herring under a fur coat” salad, cast in the trough after the New Year holidays, is generally exotic!

And all this is not fictional stories, but examples of what was found in the feeders, in the forest zone of the natural park “Samarovsky Chugas”. One would like to appeal to such people: “Well, do not poison the animals with what a place in the garbage can!” And yet, what can feed the forest dwellers, and why not? I will tell about it in this article.

Let's talk about birds first.


Under no circumstances should birds be given roasted and salted sunflower seeds, salted lard, black bread and spoiled products with an unpleasant odor or mildew. You can not citrus fruits (oranges and lemons, etc.), banana peel, peanuts. Do not give millet. Modern studies show that feeding birds with millet is not safe. The fact is that “polished” millet is sold in stores, i.e. devoid of shell. As a result, fat oxidation and the development of pathogenic microorganisms and toxic substances occur on its surface.

Most often in our area the main visitors of the forest feeders are tits, nuthatches, and sometimes woodpeckers.

These birds can bring food such as:

- non-roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds

- medium fat cottage cheese mixed with white breadcrumbs (so that the cottage cheese does not stick together)

- rubbed hard-boiled egg

- finely chopped fresh apple.

On frosty days, tits readily peck hanging pieces of unsalted bacon, or pieces of butter. You can give beef and chicken fat.

The dried seeds of watermelon and melon are not harmful for them; however, the tits eat less willingly than sunflower seeds.

I will say a few words about urban birds, such as pigeons and sparrows.

Pigeons can be fed with wheat, peeled barley, barley, uncooked sunflower seeds, oatmeal (just not instant), white bread in small quantities.

Sparrows willingly peck crumbs of white bread, non-roasted sunflower seeds and millet, which for them can cause illness, and it is better to replace it with millet or other cereals.

Many ornithologists believe that sunflower seeds are the most versatile and safe food for birds. They can make up to 75% of the diet, for both forest and urban birds. In addition, they are loved and squirrels.

It should be remembered that birds and squirrels can not be fed anything fried, salty, or sweet.

For squirrels you can take the following products to the forest:

- inshell nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts,

- pumpkin non-roasted seeds,

- fresh or dried apples, pears, carrots, hips, banana,

- dried fruits (such as dried apricots, raisins, figs, prunes).

You can not treat the protein products such as bread, chocolate, chips, cookies, mushrooms, oyster and mushrooms. It is very important to know that proteins cannot be offered almonds or other bones from fruits (cherries, cherries, apricots, peaches). Such delicacies will be the last in their lives. Especially almonds affect the body's proteins as a poison.

On the Internet you can find a lot of alternative options for food and recipes for birds and squirrels. It is important to remember that they only need feed up, but not feed, and especially, do not feed! The fact is that forest dwellers quickly become accustomed to human help, and if the feeders are constantly filled with food, they simply stop looking for natural food. Eating exclusively from the hands of humans, animals can acquire obesity and diseases of internal organs. Therefore, our goal is only to help them on frosty days, but in no case make them dependent on us.

How does protein feed in nature

Do not open America, if we say that the squirrel is a forest animal, but the forests are different, and the squirrel is very selective in this respect. As a rule, it recognizes only tall, dry and shady. She does not like either dampness or too large open spaces to the sun.

And it generally does not have to be forests - large fruit and nut gardens and parks are quite suitable for squirrels.

Another widely held belief is that squirrels eat nuts.

Not only nuts and, especially, not only hazelnuts. Everything that is in the forest of edible, is included in its menu - all sorts of seeds, grains, seeds of plants. Then buds, branches, berries, young shoots, mushrooms, and of course, the contents of cones of conifers. It's nice to watch a squirrel chop a lump, getting to the seeds. But this is only vegetarian squirrel cuisine.

Not everyone knows that they also willingly eat insects, but they prefer bird eggs and chicks to everything.

In this regard, a new question arises - on the relative harmfulness or utility of proteins, to which there is also no definite answer. In Poland, for example, from the beginning of the century until the sixties, the squirrel was twice taken under state protection and twice this protection was removed. This proves once again that it is impossible to fasten a label on it for some kind of label certifying its harmfulness or usefulness.

When, at the end of World War I, the squirrel was largely exterminated, the new Polish authorities with good reason took it under protection. It was enough, however, ten years for the squirrel as a result of these measures to multiply to such an extent that the forestry became quite painful to feel the damage it causes in the forest.

As a result of the mass destruction of young shoots, management in nurseries and damage for the miniviune, that is, for small songbirds, in which this beautiful rodent was responsible.

Thus, the harmfulness or usefulness is not a feature of any kind of animal, it depends on the number of animals of this species in a certain space.

City dwellers who have been miserable by nature are sometimes indulgent to unconditional pests, assessing them "at a reduced rate." True, we do not nurse with mice and rats, as they are considered "nasty", but we give our friendship and feed the sparrows, through whose fault the fauna of songbirds in parks and gardens has become so miserable.

But one can only welcome the friendship of citizens with squirrels, when they in city parks scramble on the clothes of people walking and rummage in bags and pockets, in search of gifts stored for them: nuts, seeds or a piece of bread.

You should not give sweets to proteins in her diet and so many carbohydrates, and the nutritional value of sweets is negligible.

Interesting technology snapping squirrel nuts. Quickly rotating the nut in the front paws, the squirrel gnaws a small hole in it from the side where there is a sharp tip, and then puts two lower incisors into it.

The trick is that in squirrels, like many rodents, the lower jaw consists of two halves connected by an elastic muscle. When the squirrel lightly pulls them together, the incisors diverge to the sides and act like a wedge driven into a hole - the nut opens in half.

Galina Starostina
according to the book of Jan Zabiniski "From the life of animals"

What to feed protein in the park

Nothing can compare with a walk in the park under the shade of mighty crowns of trees, with observation of gracefully swimming ducks in the pond and of course with the feeding of squirrels. All this can deliver a lot of pleasant impressions, both adults and children.

Nimble eating nuts and other delicacies with these little fluffy creatures can be captured as a photo or videotaped, the main thing is that the squirrel treats should be enjoyed, and for this you need to know how to feed the squirrels in the park.

Not all products that a person eats can be given to squirrels, because squirrels are forest creatures living on tree branches, which means that food should be as similar as possible to what squirrels eat in nature.

The main menu of a squirrel living in the open air of nature, for the most part consists of seeds of trees and shrubs. In taiga forests - these can be cedar, larch, pine and spruce seeds. In the deciduous and mixed forests, the diet already includes nuts, such as hazelnuts, beech, as well as acorns and seeds of various herbs. In addition, in summer, squirrels willingly feed on inflorescences of flowers, buds, shoots and wild berries.

By the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn mushrooms appear in the diet of squirrels, such as boletus, brown cap boletus, ceps, aspen mushrooms, which are consumed by squirrels, both fresh and stored for the winter. More often mushrooms serve as a substitute for nuts and seeds with poor yields, in the hungry season.

Do not disdain squirrels and animal food. Most often - it is all sorts of insects, but there are also nestlings of small birds.

It is clear that feeding natural protein with protein is a laborious task, therefore, when feeding with protein, one should select products that are more suitable for animals. In summertime - it can be fruits, such as apples, pears and carrots, coarsely chopped into pieces, berries and croutons made from white bread only (without salt). In winter, it is better to replace fresh fruits with dried fruits without sugar and other additives; protein can also be fed with those that are fed on tits in winter, namely unsalted lard, which has many calories and vitamins. Of course, in any season, squirrels can be pampered with peeled walnuts, unpeeled pumpkin and sunflower seeds, pine nuts in the shell, hazelnuts in the shell. The main thing is that all these products are unsalted, do not contain sugar or other aromatic and flavoring additives.

Before feeding the squirrels in the park, find the trees where they sit, take the food in the palm and bring it to the trunk of the tree so that the palm is fully open, and pick the protein with the socionium. As soon as the squirrels turn their attention and see the food, they will descend from the branches along the trunk and enjoy your hands.

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