Red Squirrel - Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
Red Squirrel - Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
General Description
The information for this species is not complete. We hope to have it available soon.
Distribution
Montana Range
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Most common in Montane (Yellow Pine and Douglas Fir) and subalpine (subalpine fir--Englemann Spruce) forests in W. MT. Also occurs in drier, more open Yellow Pine forests of Eastern Montana. (Hoffmann 1968).
Food Habits
Conifer cone crops, including serotinous cones. Opportun- istic. Uses terminal buds, seeds, sap, berries, bark of a variety of plants. Also uses fungi. Occasionally carnivorous (Flyger 1982).
Ecology
Active, aggressive toward conspecifics in defense of terri- tory. Very vocal. Caches cones. Sometimes dries and stores mushrooms. Annual fluctuations in density are large. Correlated with size of seed and cone crops (Jones 1983).
Reproductive Characteristics
One litter/year in N. ranges. Breeds Feb-Sep in some ranges. 35 day gestation. Young probably born Mar-May in MT. Breed when 10-12 mo's old. Altricial young. Reprod. parameters vary with climate and food supply. (Jones 1983, Flyger 1982).
Citations & Sources