What Do Squirrels Do In The Winter? What Do They 'Squirrel' Away?

As soon as winter starts approaching, the weather starts to get crisp, and you may have noticed squirrels in your locality gaining some pounds.

Squirrels begin feeding extensively in the winter season to store body fat. They bulk up significantly to keep them warm and sustain themselves throughout the winter season.

Squirrels can be both adorable and annoying throughout the year. They can be cute when they want to and also end up digging yards and eating your pumpkins and apples. When it starts becoming cold in the fall, you’ll notice them getting a little chubbier.

They do so to keep their body temperature warm enough, but what exactly do squirrels do in winter? Do squirrels hibernate? You’ll find out all this and much more as you read this article.

For more squirrel facts, check out our articles on chipmunk vs. ground squirrel and how long do squirrels live?

How do squirrels survive winter without hibernating?

We are all familiar with many animals hibernating during winter, but squirrels tend to differ in this situation. Although ground squirrels hibernate, other species remain less active during winter.

This is also because a ground squirrel lives on or in the ground, unlike other squirrels that live in trees. So what do these tree squirrels do in winter? Well, they spend less time foraging outside their dens, and more time sharing space with two or more of these animals to keep warm.

This is one way for squirrels to keep themselves warmer and survive the freezing temperatures outside. You may also see squirrels caching food for winter.

Despite the cold temperature, squirrels pass the season without hibernation by sleeping during evening and night and only venturing out in the morning. They do not hibernate because they have already stocked up well for winter in their nests.

Instead of hibernating, they rely on their dens and nests in trees to survive the long cold winter and help store food and fat reserves.

Where do squirrels nest in winter?

Squirrels love to sleep in their nests all year long except when it's time to stock up on food. Their nests are built from moss, twigs, and leaves, although given the opportunity, a squirrel can build its nest in your attic at home!

When squirrels do not hibernate during winter, they try to stay warm and toasty in their nest, which they build on the ground or in trees. However, the gray squirrels' species sleep inside tree nests only during winters and come out only in the evening and morning.
 

How do squirrels prepare for winter?

As the months of winter approach, squirrels start preparing for it in several ways. They stack up resources in their den, including food items like nuts, berries, acorns, and even tree bark inside shallow holes. This tendency of maximizing their food consumption is their alternative to hibernation.

The cold seasons call for caching food in their shallow hole or nest and covering it up for further use. Bulking up is another way squirrels prepare for winter.

They increase their body mass throughout the fall, and when the food becomes scarce in the cold season, this excess mass reserve helps them survive. This is also essential to keep their body temperature relatively constant.

What type of things do squirrels store in winter?

The squirrel is a clever animal when it comes to planning the long months of winter. They do not like to keep all their stored items in a single place in their nest, and rather they spread it across their nests, also called scatter-hoarding.

They may fool predators and other competitors by pretending to bury a thing at one place but burying it elsewhere.

The nests contain several seeds, insects, berries, bones, and even insects that squirrels store to eat later. They also treat themselves with dried mushrooms and stack pine cones in their nests.

What do squirrels drink in the winter?

Staying active for many hours in a day calls for liquid items along with food items, too, and you'd be astonished at the diverse drinks a squirrel enjoys, but water and melted snow are the drinks squirrels resort to in the winter season.

They drink water twice a day to stay hydrated and eat other food items like mushrooms, animal bones, bird eggs, and bugs to get their hydration requirements.

Do squirrels come out in the cold?

Would you or your family members come out of your house often when there is snow outside, and the temperature is below 30 F (-1.11 C)? No! Unless it is urgent, and the same applies to squirrels. They prefer to stay in their nest on the tree or ground.

The only reason they may be seen outside is to stash up food to eat which they mostly complete before the weather changes to be stormy or windy. The warm insulation provided by their nests makes a squirrel come out seldom.

Can squirrels freeze to death?

The chilling temperatures outside during winter can be challenging for tiny creatures like squirrel, but they prepare themselves by building nests as warm and secure as possible. They usually create separate shelters for summer and others for winter.

Sometimes, however, even their tightly built shelter can prove to be less for protecting them from the freezing weather.

Helping Wild Squirrels In Winter

To make the survival of these cute little animals easy during cold times, you can help them in numerous ways. Any goodies you give them will be accepted with open arms by your squirrely friend. Here are a few ways to do so!

Have a look at any of your nut trees in your areas; hickory nuts, walnuts, beechnuts, and butternuts are some great options to give them. You can put these collected nuts in a pile under a tree. Sunflower seeds can be another alternative way to help wild squirrels survive the cold season.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for what do squirrels do in the winter? Then why not take a look at baby squirrel care or squirrel facts.