In the warmer months, squirrels will hoard their food in multiple locations near their nest, so if a predator comes along, their entire food source won't be gone, and they won't have to forage long distances while the weather is a threat to their livelihood. Some species like tree squirrel and the flying squirrel will share their nests come wintertime to keep each other warm and use less energy. Squirrels will often be storing foods like nuts, acorns, and berries. They also begin to eat more food to prepare for the cold season, keep their body temperature up when they need it, and forage more often so they'll have a stash of food for later, as most squirrels still eat in the winter, albeit less often. In addition, squirrels' coats have evolved to become thicker as the seasons change naturally. They'll start to collect leaves, twigs, moss, and feathers to hunk up and insulate their nests for winter. It's commonly known that squirrels build nests year-round, and their winter nests are just thicker versions of their summer nests. Squirrels instinctively know that it will be substantially more difficult to find supplies and food as winter approaches, so they start preparing in the weeks prior. Both events allow the squirrels to preserve their energy for strictly survival purposes, but there is a difference. Ground squirrels are the only species that hibernate, and tree squirrels adapt to a period of winter rest.

But do squirrels hibernate as well? The first thing to know is that there are different types of squirrels. In the animal kingdom, many types of animals will hibernate during wintertime. Contrary to popular belief, hibernation does not verbatim mean sleeping however, their activity levels are much lower so they can survive the harsh winter. Amazingly, their bodies can resist muscle depletion and cell loss while hibernating. They won't need to eat, drink, or have urinary or bowel movements for long periods of time. In hibernation, most of the animal's bodily functions that are otherwise essential shut down to preserve energy. Their heart rate will drop, but metabolism and body temperature will stay the same, meaning they can be as active as they are in warmer seasons if needed. Mostly their days will consist of sleeping and eating, sometimes sleeping for days at a time.

Animals will carry on with their normal activities, but much more sparingly. Winter RestĮssentially, winter rest is a milder form of hibernation. Their heart rate, body temperature, and breathing rate will drop to conserve energy, and it can last a few days or months. The animal will conserve energy to survive the adverse weather condition or lack of food. In summer, a squirrel’s coat thins out and disappears.Hibernation is a state of being dormant.

Some squirrels even grow long tufts or clumps of hair on their ears for extra warmth. Squirrels grow a thicker coat and bushier tail in winter to keep themselves warm. Click here to read about The Lifespan of a squirrel. Squirrels that live in warmer areas often don’t hibernate at all.

In fact, sometimes ground squirrels of the same species have different hibernation behaviors.įor example, Texas ground squirrels hibernate sometimes but males usually come out of hibernation two weeks earlier than females. Some ground squirrels hibernate in winter, but not all of them do and not all of them go into the same state of hibernation. If it gets very cold outside, some squirrels will stay in a group in their nest, and will go into a light hibernation and inactivity, at least until things warm up again.

But in winter, flying squirrels usually leave their nests only when the sun rises and when it sets. In summer and fall these squirrels are usually out of their nests all night to look for food and gather food for winter. Slow down their metabolism in the colder months and lower their internal body temperature, to save energy when food is so scarceGrow a winter coat and tufts on their ears to stay warmHuddle together in nests when it gets very coldDifferent squirrels are nocturnal, which means they are active at night and sleep during the day. Most squirrels are tree squirrels so they don’t hibernate. Click here to read Are Squirrels Rodents ?

Do squirrels hibernate all winter