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Eastern Fox Squirrel Research Paper

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Mingming Liu
Zoology 140
Oct, 25.2015
Observation
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger).

The eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) is the largest tree squirrel [1]. The animal is 10 to 15 inches and possesses three diverse color patterns. Firstly, in the southern segment of its range, this creature is dark with a white tip on its tail and a white band of color on its face. Secondly, in the northeastern part of its body, it has a gray appearance above with yellowish undersides. Thirdly, in the western section of its body, it is dark above and has a rust color underneath. This creature is a solitary animal, even though it shares a feeding territory with other squirrels. The eastern fox squirrel commonly occurs in the central and the eastern United States west to the Texas Colorado, and Dakotas [1]. It does not inhabit New England, most of eastern and northern Pennsylvania, western New …show more content…

They first manipulate it using their paws, hold it loosely in their limbs, and rotate it in their mouth, and later move the head (head flick) in a rapid rotation as they hold the food in the mouth. There is a high correlation between head flicking (rotation) with the subsequent eating, rather than caching food. These unusual traits probably assess the likelihood of spoilage, weight, or other features of food quality.
After examining a food item, fox squirrels either cache or eat it, frequently moving to a locality away from the source of food. These squirrels begin the process of caching with digging. They then tap the nut with their front teeth to fix it more firmly in the ground. On the first day of observation, the fox squirrel ran away quickly once it saw me and took refuge in a tree. This conduct shows that these animals take advantage of their maneuverability and agility in the trees to flee their predators. They also produce alarm calls that probably alert other squirrels when they are

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