Species of the family Squirrelidae are active in various terrestrial habitats, from snow-capped mountains at altitudes of more than 6,000 meters to tropical islands in the Pacific Ocean and from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere.

They can be found everywhere except near the poles or in the driest deserts in areas with extreme climatic conditions and extremely simple or even absent vegetation.

Fall is the busiest season for squirrels. They enjoy nature's bounty and gather a lot of fruits to bury as food for the winter.

We can see squirrels jumping from branch to branch with walnuts, acorns, or other goodies in their mouths.

Why do squirrels store fruit?

1. Ensuring Food Supply:

The primary reason squirrels engage in caching behaviour is to secure a reliable food supply during the scarcity of winter.

Squirrels primarily collect and stash nuts, seeds, and other food items in various hiding spots throughout their territories. Creating multiple caches reduces the risk of losing all their resources to predators, theft, or spoilage.

These stored food reserves serve as a crucial source of sustenance when food is scarce during winter.

2. Memory and Spatial Cognition:

Squirrels possess remarkable memory and spatial cognition skills, allowing them to remember the exact locations of their caches even months after burying them.

By relying on their memory, squirrels can efficiently retrieve cached food items, reducing the energy expenditure associated with daily foraging during colder periods.

3. Competition with Other Species:

Winter is challenging for many animals, and the competition for limited resources intensifies. Many small mammals, birds, and even larger predators often rely on buried caches as a food source.

By hiding food, squirrels minimize the risk of losing their reserves to competitors.

To gain a competitive advantage, squirrels often employ deceptive tactics, such as creating fake caches or moving cached items to different locations.

4. Evolutionary Adaptations:

These caching behaviours have likely evolved due to natural selection.

Squirrels with better memory and foraging abilities that can successfully hide and retrieve their caches are more likely to survive and reproduce.

Over generations, this behaviour has become ingrained in squirrel populations, leading to the prevalence of caching strategies seen today.

The behaviour of squirrels hiding things during winter is a crucial survival strategy driven by the need to secure a food supply during lean periods.

Caching provides them with a reliable source of sustenance, minimizes competition, aids in seed dispersal, and enhances their adaptability to variable environmental conditions.

The caching behaviour of squirrels ensures their survival and contributes to the ecological balance and renewal of their habitats.