This way, the animal doesn't have to search for food and water. They then rely on fat reserves for the energy they need to continue to breathe and stay alive and warm. The animal’s body shuts down, reducing the animal’s metabolism.
In this state, temperature, breathing rate and heart rate, and other metabolic activities drop to allow animals to conserve energy and survive during colder weather. Hibernation is an animal survival mode that involves a state of dormancy for warm-blooded animals. When exploring if squirrels hibernate, let's first look at what hibernation means. What does hibernation mean? Photo by Josephina Kolpachnikof on Unsplash In this article, we will dig into the world of squirrels to find out why they don’t hibernate and what exactly these little creatures do during winter.įor more reading, check out our list of 19 squirrel facts, some of which might surprise you.
So what do most squirrels do during winter? Squirrels are less active during colder months, and you may ask the question: Do squirrels hibernate during winter? The simple answer is no. In general, young females develop their own burrows within the colony, while males leave to find their own territories after weaning.We see squirrels sitting on trees, raiding the bird feeders and gardens, and digging up holes to store nuts for the winter. Young are weaned at about one month old and typically stay with their mother for an additional two weeks. Younger females typically produce larger litters. Females produce one litter of 3-8 young per year. The young are born 23 to 28 days after conception. The mating season occurs from late May to early June. Males emerge first and are followed by the females two weeks later. The hibernation period can last for five to seven months. Males tend to hibernate alone and females usually hibernate in groups. Beldin’s ground squirrels hibernate in and around the end of July. During the summer, Belding’s ground squirrels forage on green vegetation and almost double their weight in preparation for the long hibernation period ahead. The average litter has 5-8 young, but litters as small as 1 and as large as 15 have been observed.īelding's ground squirrels spend the majority of their time in hibernation, from which they emerge in late spring. In a year, California ground squirrels only produce a single litter. Peak mating occurs from March through June. Mating can start as early as January in warmer locations and continues until July. Generally, populations at higher altitudes and in colder climates hibernate for longer periods and therefore breed later.
The onset of breeding in California ground squirrel populations can vary depending on weather, elevation, and latitude. In Southern California, some populations of California ground squirrels do not hibernate due to mild weather during the winter months. Male California ground squirrels often emerge from hibernation 10 to 14 days before females. They can emerge from their burrows as early as the end of January, but some populations are not seen above-ground until March.
California ground squirrels may have two periods of dormancy during the year:
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