Jan 21st is squirrel appreciation day and while they aren’t a kept species at Oatland, they are certainly around. Georgia is home to both grey squirrels and fox squirrels and before you get too squirrely about it, yes, we will tell you how to tell them apart.
Grey Squirrels: You guessed it, they’re grey.
Fox Squirrels: Have rusty-colored fur mixed with black, giving them an overall ruddy reddish-brown coat.
Now that that’s out of the way let's get to why you’re really here. Weird facts about squirrels. What could possibly be so strange about these buck-toothed, bounding mammals with long bushy tails? Thank you for asking.
#1: Squirrel teeth grow forever. Not just a little either. Squirrel teeth can grow up to 2.5 INCHES a year! Imagine those dentist visits. Their teeth get longer and longer and it’s only thanks to their diets that they chew and gnaw on enough braches and tough nuts that they shave down their teeth over time.
#2: Leaps of Faith. Grey squirrels can leap over EIGHT feet from a standstill. Don’t worry they’re usually leaping AWAY from large mammals. But they aren’t alone. The flying squirrel has special folds of skin that connect their legs and allow them to glide more than 150 feet. For you football fans, that’s to the End Zone from the 50-yard Line.
#3: Speaking of flying squirrels, did you know that they GLOW HOT PINK under blacklights? This form of taking in light at one wavelength and releasing it at another is called biofluorescence and is more common than scientists once realized! Why do they glow hot pink? No one knows…yet!
#4: Faster than a speeding squirrel: Squirrels are incredibly agile and part of that agility is speed. These Raucous Racers can speed up and down trees at speeds of over 20 miles an hour. The next time you’re in your car, check your speedometer at 20mph. That’s FAST for a foot-long creature.
#5: Speaking of how long they are, the smallest squirrel in the world is the African Pygmy Squirrel (Top photo) coming in at the same size as a field mouse and weighing as much as a pencil. The largest, however, is the Red and White Giant Flying Squirrel (bottom photo) coming in at over 3 feet long and weighing over 10 pounds. The same size as your average housecat.
Squirrels come in all shapes and sizes, colors, and speeds; but the one thing we know for sure is that they’re never boring. The next time you visit Oatland Island, take a moment to look up and appreciate these agile mammals, and remember, they have forever-growing teeth, can outrun you, and can be larger than a small dog. Good luck out there.
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