Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Eichhörnchen

2926 entries

Red squirrel

Rote Liste NRW: u Ungefährdet

  entry

Sciurus vulgaris

The Red Squirrel is perhaps one of the best-known wild native species and generally welcomed. In NRW, the appearance of this species, which is active during the day and also in the winter varies considerably. Dark brown and rust-coloured animals can occur in the same location. In the winter, the brown animals often have a grey back, which frequently leads to them being addressed as Grey Squirrels. This American species, which was successfully introduced in England, does not (yet) exist in Germany.
Red Squirrels are by no means just forest dwellers. They occur just as much in the villages and urban areas if there is a good supply of trees and shrubs. It is important that these include shrubs like hazel or walnut or cone-bearing conifers that can supply food to the animals all year long. The often very inconspicuous nests occasionally are even attached to houses. In our region, the species has one to two litters per year, and in exceptional cases, there may already be subadult young by the end of March.

The Red Squirrel is distributed area-wide in NRW, the population is now stable. It seems worth the effort to record the colour morphs during local mapping of Red Squirrels. Our knowledge of the reproductive biology of the species in NRW also requires supplementation.

Author

Henning Vierhaus

Citation

Vierhaus H (2024): Eichhörnchen (Sciurus_vulgaris).In: AG Säugetierkunde NRW — Online-Atlas of the mammals of North Rhine-Westphalia. Downloaded from saeugeratlas-nrw.lwl.org on 2024/11/21