The Squirrel

If you are in any part of a Kenyan wildlife park, you are likely to come across these cheeky animals that are quite small in size but can turn out to be very dangerous when it comes to burrowing and spoiling food crops in farms/ shamba. They have been known to spoil acreages of farm land when they mange to stray away from the inclines of the park areas. But what are these creature all about and do they have any benefits to man?
First and foremost, Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots (including woodchucks), flying squirrels, the gray squirrels, the prairie dogs and more than two hundred other species. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia therefore they are not rare species at all.
These tiny animals that belong to the Sciuridae family, range in size from 5 to 36 inches (13-92 cm) long including their very long and bushy tails. The biggest squirrel is the Indian Giant Squirrel with the smallest species of squirrels being the Gray species that range from 5 to 10 inches and are found in the southern Americas. Baby squirrels are born in nests of about six at a time but only a couple surviving until adult hood. They are blind and hairless at birth like birds for period of two or three months. Females may have several litters in a year, so most squirrel populations are robust and they are certainly not an endangered species.
Squirrels are omnivores in by nature which means that they eat both plants and meat. They eat seeds, nuts, leaves, bulbs, roots, mushrooms, insects, worms, eggs, small birds, and other small animals. Ground squirrels have pouches in their cheeks in which they carry food to their burrow to store hence they are known for burrowing in between food crops and sometimes damaging the roots of tender vegetable shoots and roots. The other kinds of squirrels are the tree and flying squirrels. Flying squirrels don’t fly instead they glide form tree to tree as they extend their furry for limbs to either side.
The most interesting fact about them in which I feel that the squirrel must be respected and appreciated for, is its abilities, especially its grace and acrobatics in the trees. Perhaps no other animal is as quick to disappear as a fleeing squirrel. Once he sees you, nine out of ten times you'll never see the likes of him again. One wonders what is so terribly wrong with them just having to stay in one position for at least five minutes at a time. The advantage of these is the fact that they eat away insects that love eating onto newly sprouted plants; thus farmers may use them in chasing away unwanted parasitic insects.
The next time you come across one throw some nuts towards its directions; these are their favorite dishes especially for gestating females.

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