Why Do Squirrel Drop Pine Cones?
The reason for the high number of squirrels in Yellowstone is a mystery to many of us. They use the cones as food, but why do they leave them behind? They bury them in large piles, storing them for the winter. They attack larger animals, but don’t actually eat them. Here are a few reasons why. Read on to discover the answers to these burning questions. You’ll also be surprised by how much you know about the pine cone!
Table of Contents
Female pine cones are tastier and more nutritious
Squirrels eat both the seeds and the scales from pine cones. They prefer green pine cones over brown ones. Green pine cones are easier to handle and contain more nutritional value. Squirrels consume the seeds because they are high in protein, thiamine, zinc, and phosphorus. Green cones are also easy to store.
Squirrels have learned to pick young female pine cones for eating. They find these tastier and more nutritious and will often feed on them for several months. The seeds inside female pine cones are much more nutritious and tastier for squirrels. Once mature, pine cones open their scales and release their seeds. Squirrels will often pick up young female pine cones as they contain nourishing seeds.
While male pine cones are tastier than female ones, both varieties contain seeds. Squirrels feed on pine cones, which are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are not picky and are likely to eat a variety of pine cones, so keep a good supply around. The Skedaddle team provides wildlife control in Milwaukee and the surrounding area.
Squirrels bury them in large piles
Squirrels gather pine cones from trees and bury them in piles known as middens. These middens are often 10 feet high and two to three feet wide, and can contain up to 15,000 cones! In winter, the squirrels store their food in these middens. The cones are stored for winter in these piles, and they can contain up to a bushel’s worth of cones!
Researchers at the University of Richmond have discovered that red squirrels bury pine cones and other nuts in huge piles to keep their food supply secure and safe. This behavior is highly beneficial for the regeneration of oak trees, as 74% of the nuts that squirrels bury are not recovered. Researchers believe that this widespread caching practice helps spread genetic information far and wide. To learn more about this fascinating behaviour, read on!
They store them for the winter
Squirrels build middens at the base of cone-bearing trees. Once the cones have fallen, the squirrels will gnaw the scales off to get at the seeds inside. This pile-up of scales forms a cold storage area for the winter. They can have as many as 10 feet-long middens, but most of them are only two to three feet wide.
The pine cones that squirrels collect from trees are stored in their own middens. These middens are huge mounds of uneaten pine cone pieces, bracts, and seed. Each cone contains thousands of seeds, which remain viable for many decades. Because they are stored in these middens, squirrels can store up to 80,000 cones. If the squirrels are able to gather enough, they can live on these conifers for a decade or more.
Squirrels also harvest young pine cones from trees and store them in cold, dark, moist places. When they don’t eat the seeds in the cone, they tear the cone apart to get to the center, where the seeds will be safe from water and low temperatures. A squirrel’s winter stockpile is therefore a convenient source of nutrition. When storing conifers, squirrels eat thiamine, Vitamin K, magnesium, and protein.
They attack larger animals
The squirrel’s feeding behavior is based on a variety of factors, including size and location of the food source. A 250-g male squirrel can obtain 120 kcal a day by eating a cone. The number of cones needed to meet a squirrel’s daily energy requirements depends on the size of the tree and its habitat. A squirrel needs a considerable amount of energy to manipulate and eat the cones. Therefore, the squirrel’s net gain in energy may be less if the food source is colder. As a result, the survival rate of squirrels is inversely proportional to the severity of winter weather, and late snow packs were associated with a decrease in their numbers.
The behavior of squirrels at high density is equally interesting, although there is no evidence that it uses these cones to attack larger animals. In fact, when squirrels live in lower densities, their territoriality appears to diminish. They move between sequoia trees and remove the majority of cones from trees. This may increase the exposure to colder temperatures in winter, which reduces the amount of food they can eat at caches.
Why do squirrels drop cones?
One theory is that the squirrels are trying to get rid of the cone so that they can get to the seeds inside.
Another theory is that the squirrels are trying to crack the cone open so they can eat the seeds.
Jessica Watson is a PHD holder from the University of Washington. She studied behavior and interaction between squirrels and has presented her research in several wildlife conferences including TWS Annual Conference in Winnipeg.
