Where Are Squirrels Likely to Live?

If you are like most people, you have seen squirrels no matter where you have lived. These are animals that live in just about every region of the country. They are literally everywhere!

While they are common in just about every place, there are habitats that a squirrel prefers over others. If you are wondering where squirrels prefer to live, here is the answer for you.

Getting Our Terms Together
Just to make sure we are all on the same page, before moving forward a few definitions of terms is important. In this article we will talk about cities, suburbs, and rural areas. In discussing rural areas, we mean locations like forests, national parks, and preserves. Areas that are considered wild or primarily farm regions.

Cities are metropolitan areas where larger numbers of people live, usually in the hundreds of thousands or more. This is where large buildings, elaborate transportation systems, and other things that make up the large cities would be included.

The suburbs are those cities and towns that surround the city major metropolitan areas. They are usually the transition areas between rural and metropolitan regions.

Ok, So Where Do Squirrels Most Often Live
While squirrels can be found in major urban areas like cities, they are most commonly found in suburban and rural areas. The reasons behind this are quite obvious.

In the rural areas, there are miles of open area where the squirrel can find food and shelter. It is easy to find food sources trees and plants are abundant. Since squirrels predominantly eat things like nuts, these items are in great abundance in areas like this, so squirrels have varied problems finding food.

In addition, large numbers of trees mean many locations to build a home. Squirrels can easily move from one tree to another, so getting away from a potential predator is not a problem.

However, one problem with the rural area is that there are a lot more predators that are common in this region. A squirrel is often in jeopardy as animals like owls, foxes, and other similar critters are more likely to live in these regions, making it more hazardous for the squirrel.

They Are Moving to the Suburbs
Squirrels are becoming a lot more common in suburban areas. This is for two reasons. The first is that human beings are continuously encroaching upon rural areas, forcing the squirrels into the suburbs.

In addition, suburban areas provide unique opportunities for a squirrel to thrive. First off, people protect them because natural predators to the squirrels are far less common in these areas. You don’t see a fox or a coyote commonly walking through a suburban neighborhood. Thus, squirrels can thrive in larger numbers because there are far fewer predators.

In addition, there are a number of food sources that squirrels can use to find a meal. People grow trees with nuts or fruit on them. People grow gardens. People leave their trash cans uncovered. Squirrels will eat lots of different things, so there is an abundance of food.

These are the regions where you are more likely to see squirrels do not. It’s why they have become one of the most commonly found animals in these areas, to the point where people pay them no mind at all.

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