Diet
Illinois squirrels are categorized as omnivores meaning they feed on both meat and plants. Most of the time you’ll see them eating fungi, fruits, nuts and seeds, they also eat caterpillars, young snakes, small insects and small animals. They munch on fruits with a lot of enthusiasm where they eat happily and love hoarding fruits for themselves. When it comes to eating Squirrels will almost eat everything and do not struggle looking for specific foods. They will feed on a discarded cheese sandwich without minding if it is molded or not. If you leave dog and cat food to their exposure they will also feed on it and keep coming back for the food.



Biology
Squirrels are referred to as small rodents, they have a bushy tail, strong hind legs and large elect ears and are said to live mostly in burrows. There are three types of Chicago squirrels; tree squirrels, flying squirrels and ground squirrels. Squirrels found in Europe have long tufts of hair on each ear. They have spikes with long awns which they use in defense from the enemy. They are said to forget easily because they can bury something and after some time they won’t remember where they buried it.

Appearance
Most Illinois squirrels are gray in colour but they can be found in other colors depending on their origin. They can be found in a variety of colors like in N. America they are grey in color, Niger ones have different colors other common colors include stripes, black, red and rusty brown. They have a bushy tail where it is said there are more than 200 species around the world. They vary is size where the African squirrel has 2.8 to 5 inches and weighs 10grams. The largest squirrel has 36 inches and weighs 1.8 kilograms are found in India.

Behavior
They mostly dwell in the forest, when the food is plenty they will hoard in several locations to eat when the food is scarce. They place their nest on buildings or houses where they use twigs, leaves and grass to build the nest. They protect their territory with all their might, they use urine and display their wagging tail and bark regularly to mark their presence. There are species of squirrels that can mark a territory of 10 hectares as theirs. They are known to make a lot of noise during the mating season and they breed twice every year.

Habitat
Chicago squirrels can live almost everywhere, from the driest regions, tropical rainforest, semiarid deserts and polar regions. This is because they are comfortable with eating whatever is available and can adapt to any weather. You will find them living in deciduous forests and hardwood forest, you will also find them in suburban and urban places. Gray squirrels love forest that is densely populated with trees that have fruits and nuts or oak, hickory and walnut. They will look for a forest that is near open fresh water that is secure for their nesting and security for reproduction purposes. They also love inhabiting in deserts and open grasslands.

Go back to Squirrel Removal Pro Chicago