Why do squirrels bury nuts?

Squirrels are small or medium sized animals that belong to the family of rodents. As indigenous specie in the regions of America, Eurasia and Africa, the existence of squirrels have been then introduced to the continental region of Australia. Tracing back the history of this animal, it was noted that squirrels was found forty years ago in the Eocene. It was then found that squirrels are in close resemblance to beavers and dormice. The term squirrel was first coined in 1327 and was derived from Anglo-Norman language. Squirrels are typically small and have slender bodies with bushy tail and large eyes. It comes in a variety of colors, which can be dominantly found in tropical rainforests and semi-arid desert or in regions that have a moderate climate. Because they possess large eyes, they great sense of vision is important in their dwelling in trees and in search for food. Squirrels commonly feed on nuts and seeds while others are able to thrive on eating insects and small vertebrates.

One interesting behavior that squirrels exhibit is their hoarding of food, particularly nuts. Squirrels find time to look for nuts and seeds and eventually collect and bury them. The reason why squirrels collect nuts is to prepare for winter, when it becomes harder for them to find food. Since nuts and seeds can rarely be found during the season of winter, squirrels start searching for them during the fall. And when the signal for winter comes, squirrels halt their search and start to rely on the food they have stored.

Another amazing benefit of squirrels collecting and burying nuts is that it helps trees. Squirrels bury many nuts, but usually don’t retrieve all of them. The ones that stay buried in the ground sprout into new trees.