ammonkey725
An antisocial creature
This photo was taken on November 4th, on-campus right after ecology class in front of Birck. What is depicted is an eastern fox squirrel or the scientific name Sciurus niger. This is a native squirrel of North America. In the wild most fox squirrels die before they become adults. The life expectancy of a female squirrel is approximately 12.6 years and for a male is typically 8.6 years. Also, although fox squirrels mate all year round, much of the mating happens between two seasons, from November/December to February and April/ May to June/July. Males begin to mate around 10-11 months and females begin to reproduce younger, at about six months old. Furthermore, females usually have one to two litters a year and the average litter size is three, however, it can range from one to six young per litter. The gestation period of fox squirrels is typically only 45 days long. In addition, baby squirrels typically stay with their mother and are ready to be weaned off to the wild at about 10 weeks. In relation to life-history strategies, I believe fox squirrels can fall under the type III category of r strategists and generalists. As mentioned, they can be described as short-lived, reproduce early, and low parental investment/ care. Lastly, the thing that I found most interesting while doing research on fox squirrels is that they prefer to live alone all their life. They can even be described as anti-social creatures. The only time they are seen together is during the mating season. This makes sense as whenever I do see any squirrels that are always alone on high alert!
An antisocial creature
This photo was taken on November 4th, on-campus right after ecology class in front of Birck. What is depicted is an eastern fox squirrel or the scientific name Sciurus niger. This is a native squirrel of North America. In the wild most fox squirrels die before they become adults. The life expectancy of a female squirrel is approximately 12.6 years and for a male is typically 8.6 years. Also, although fox squirrels mate all year round, much of the mating happens between two seasons, from November/December to February and April/ May to June/July. Males begin to mate around 10-11 months and females begin to reproduce younger, at about six months old. Furthermore, females usually have one to two litters a year and the average litter size is three, however, it can range from one to six young per litter. The gestation period of fox squirrels is typically only 45 days long. In addition, baby squirrels typically stay with their mother and are ready to be weaned off to the wild at about 10 weeks. In relation to life-history strategies, I believe fox squirrels can fall under the type III category of r strategists and generalists. As mentioned, they can be described as short-lived, reproduce early, and low parental investment/ care. Lastly, the thing that I found most interesting while doing research on fox squirrels is that they prefer to live alone all their life. They can even be described as anti-social creatures. The only time they are seen together is during the mating season. This makes sense as whenever I do see any squirrels that are always alone on high alert!