National Squirrel Day 2017: People often use the word “squirrel” to refer to a mouse in the Sciuridae family. There are over 270 species, and more than 20 of them live in Canada.
The groundhog (Marmota monax) and many types of chipmunks are among these. Squirrel Appreciation Day is held every year on January 21. It was started by Christy Hargrove, an American wildlife rehabilitator, in 2001.
Some species, like the American Red Squirrel (Tamiascurus hudsonicus), the Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), and the Fox Squirrel (S. niger), have been seen swimming up to two kilometers across lakes and rivers.
There is camera footage that proves it happened, but you might only have seen it if rats broke into your house. Depending on the species, squirrel scat is a dull brown or black color that is spherical to cylindrical and 3–13 mm long. It’s likely to be found where squirrels eat or sleep.
History of National Squirrel Appreciation Day
Christy Hargrove, a wildlife rehabilitation expert, started National Squirrel Appreciation Day in Asheville, North Carolina, by herself in 2001. The idea behind this day was to encourage people to have good feelings about their dog friends. Christy got people to give squirrels food and water and even let them use bird feeders, which is normally off-limits to them.
Even though squirrels are usually thought of as annoying, their presence is actually good for the earth. In cities, they improve the look of parks by acting as nature’s gardeners without even realizing it. Animals like squirrels help spread seeds by hiding nuts. This helps trees grow, and the forest recover.
Before the middle of the 1800s, squirrels were not seen in towns in the United States. A lot of work was done to get them used to living in cities, like planting trees and making parks as part of landscaping improvements. Also, people had to change how they behaved. Squirrel shooting was made illegal, and people were asked to feed the animals instead.
How to Celebrate National Squirrel Appreciation Day
Give the squirrels a feast by bringing nuts and seeds to the park near you. Keep your space to make sure they don’t feel threatened and are safe. Make your squirrel out of paper, clay, or fabric to use your imagination. Try out different things, like feathers, sticks, leaves, stones, and shells that you find in nature. Putting a bird feeder in an area with lots of trees will bring in squirrels from the neighborhood, making a beautiful show of birds and curious squirrels.
You can have more fun by renting or watching a movie about our animal friends. “Over the Hedge” is a great choice that’s great for both kids and adults. Take out your camera and go outside to catch squirrels in action.
These active animals make great subjects for pictures. Squirrels are known for how hard they work to find food, and they are also very agile and balanced. A quick look online for “squirrel obstacle courses” will bring up interesting videos of these cute animals using their tails to stay balanced while they find, eat, or store nuts.
Why We Love National Squirrel Appreciation Day
Christy Hargrove didn’t know how important National Squirrel Appreciation Day would become when she started it in 2001. Christy just told people to enjoy the day in their way by suggesting things like using a certain phrase to share their thoughts on Twitter. She had no idea how quickly the day turned into a huge success, reminding her of how squirrels were added to American parks in the 1850s to make them more interesting.
You already know that squirrels have a strange habit of hiding nuts. Interestingly, sometimes, they help with a scam by pretending to hide nuts when they are seen. Squirrels may pretend to hide a nut, leave the area, and then come back to do it again and again, moving the nut each time to avoid being seen.
On this, National Squirrel Day, we feature Craig Newmark and squirrelly citizen science.
SciStarter asked Craig Newmark, who is famous for making Craigslist if he liked squirrels. He said that his desire to feed birds made him interested in squirrels. But squirrels always got in the way of his plans to use suet palaces to give out bird food, even after he made changes to models that were supposed to be “squirrel-resistant.” Because of this fight, Newmark really came to respect these smart and strong rats.
Newmark thinks squirrels are good winners because they are smart, tough, and athletic. He even jokes that squirrels could be humans’ replacements if we need them to be. He talks about squirrels all the time, and on January 21, National Squirrel Appreciation Day, he’ll be there with open arms.
Newmark has taken his love for squirrels to a whole new level by installing “squirrel cams” in his home. These cameras record interesting events on video, like a female squirrel exploring his land.
Some squirrel watching uses high-tech tools like “squirrel cams,” but a lot of it still uses low-tech tools like glasses and notebooks. No matter how high-tech or low-tech the results are, they all add to peer-reviewed scientific research in the long run.
SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY ACTIVITIES
To celebrate, make a creative obstacle course for the squirrels in your area and record video clips of them doing crazy things on it. You can post the video online and get feedback and opinions. Using the Mission Impossible theme will make it even more exciting.
This is a fun and interesting way to thank the squirrels in your area. You can dress up your dog like a squirrel, which is another great thing about them. Take beautiful pictures of your dog in an outfit to attract more people to your pet and get people more excited about squirrels.
The word “squirrel” is delightful because it describes how fast, eager, balanced, and smart these cute animals are. It’s worth 17 points in Scrabble, and it’s a lot of fun to say it over and over again while changing the pitch, rhythm, and volume until you start laughing. Christy Hargrove says that this fun attitude fits with the spirit of the day: you can enjoy this day in any way that makes you happy.
What is Squirrel day?
National Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21st) | Days Of The Year. Sun Jan 21st, 2024. 77.
People often see squirrels in their daily lives. You can find these small animals, which can be told apart by their fluffy tails, in many places, such as towns, parks, college campuses, and forests. It’s amazing how flexible squirrels are; they can live in trees or dig holes in the ground to live in.
A funny idea among some people is that squirrels are really into nuts, which helps them get through even the worst winter weather. Squirrels can quickly adapt to their surroundings, remember where to find food, and have a soft, fluffy look. On National Squirrel Appreciation Day, people are encouraged to learn more about these animals and respect their ability to survive in the wild.
Aside from being able to change, squirrels are known for their unique hairstyles, ability to handle rattlesnake bites and undeniable cuteness. Make time today to show your squirrels you care by giving them nuts to eat.
Is Squirrel Appreciation day real?
National Squirrel Appreciation Day is a creation by Christy Hargrove, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist from Ashville, North Carolina. National Squirrel Appreciation Day on January 21 is a day to learn about and celebrate the world’s cutest rodents.
Did you know that Squirrel Appreciation Day is on January 21? Some people may not always enjoy these cute little rodents’ funny acts and sometimes theft of birdseed, but it’s important to understand how important they are to the environment. Furthermore, their funny behavior is a source of entertainment, especially for kids.
To honor these cute animals, let’s have some fun by learning some interesting facts about them, telling some squirrel-themed jokes, suggesting some great books for kids, and giving you squirrel-themed games, projects, and snacks to enjoy with your kids.
Today is a day to be nice to our furry friends by giving them more food and water and letting them play with the bird feeder you normally try to keep them away from. People may think of squirrels as pests, but their presence is actually good for the environment and makes urban parks more appealing. Let’s take a moment to show how much we love these colorful animals!
Is tomorrow national squirrel day?
When is National Squirrel Appreciation Day? National Squirrel Appreciation Day is celebrated on January 21st every year. In 2023 National Squirrel Appreciation Day will occur on a Saturday.
National Squirrel Appreciation Day is January 21. This is a great time to show our love for the fluffy rodents that live in our parks and backyards. This holiday, which was created by Christy Hargrove in 2001, is meant to raise awareness about how important squirrels are to our ecosystem.
They do very important things, like gathering nuts for food in the winter and wowing us with their amazing gymnastics. Their introduction to cities has a long past. The first known meeting between them and people happened in Philadelphia’s Franklin Square in 1847. After that, in 1850, Boston and New Haven did the same thing.
Early squirrel releases were hard because they scared birds and caused pest problems. In the 1870s, more squirrels were released on a larger scale. New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago all have large parks that squirrels love. These towns are great places for squirrels to live and do well.
Which animal is called squirrel?
rodents
squirrel, (family Sciuridae), generally, any of the 50 genera and 268 species of rodents whose common name is derived from the Greek skiouros, meaning “shade tail,” which describes one of the most conspicuous and recognizable features of these small mammals.
Tree squirrels have long, skinny bodies with thick, strong legs and feet. Their front feet have four long fingers and a short, stumpy thumb. Their back feet, which have five toes, can be very narrow or very wide. The bald soles of their feet look like big, spongy pads. Squirrels can quickly fall trees headfirst, with their back paws flat against the trunk, thanks to ankle joints that are flexible and can be turned.
Their big, bright eyes show that they are alert, and their broad, short heads taper to a blunt nose that is covered with long whiskers. The ears are small compared to the rest of the animal. They are covered in short, fine hairs that, in some species, form a long tuft at the tips. The tail is about the same length as the head and body, or sometimes longer.
It is furred from the base to the tip, which makes it look thick and cylindrical when the hairs grow all the way around it. If most of the fur comes from different sides, the tail looks flatter. Tree squirrels have broad, strong, bent, and very sharp claws that help them get up and down walls and along thin branches.
Why are squirrels called squirrels?
The word squirrel, notoriously difficult to pronounce for non-native English speakers, is ultimately Greek in origin: it comes from skiouros, from skia, meaning “shadow,” and oura, meaning “tail.” Presumably, the squirrels of long-ago Greece also sat with their bushy tails raised up against their backs and over their …
The English name for the common squirrel that runs around our yards, gardens, parks, and towns has been used since the 1400s. When Chaucer wrote about “squirrels and bestes smale of gentil kynde” (“squirrels and small animals of gentle nature”), the word was written in a lot of different ways, such as squircle, squircle, squirrel, and squirrel. We use the spelling we do now because it became standard in the 1600s.
Before it became a verb meaning “to store up for future use,” like in the phrase “squirreling away money,” the word “squirrel” meant a mammal for many generations. A strange fact about these animals that has nothing to do with this post is that a squirrel’s front teeth can grow up to six inches in a year.
Tree squirrels can move very well because they have thin bodies, sharp claws, and tails that balance them out. They have inspired people to make squirrel obstacle courses that are very hard to get through. Flying squirrels use their flat tails and patagia (membranes between their legs) to get from one place to another in the air.
It is well known that squirrels store nuts for later use. This is possible because they use a mix of sight, memory, and smell to find them. But they don’t get them all back; some stay behind to grow into new trees. For some tree types, squirrels are very important for their ability to spread and grow back.
There are a lot of Eastern Grey Squirrels in the southeast of Canada. They aren’t always gray; sometimes, they are black or white. Their genes control the amount of dark melanin pigments in their fur. A white squirrel could be a real albino with a faulty gene, or it could just be a rare breed that doesn’t have a mutation. Some famous places in Canada where you can see white squirrels are Exeter, Ontario, and Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park.
