What do squirrels do with their tails?

When we see a squirrel from afar, we normally notice its big and bushy tail first. Squirrels use their tails in many ways, they can wrap it around their bodies to protect them from heavy rains, likewise, when they see a predator like a rattle snake, they do wag their tails for self-protection. Squirrels do spend a lot of time to groom their tails. Squirrels often twitch their tails to signal to other squirrels the presence of danger around the corner. They twitch their tails when they are also suspicious of humans or animals around, raising suspicion from other squirrels around.



There seem to be a lot to know about the tail of a Squirrel, the animal may use it to seduce female squirrels, thus showing strong affection. Squirrels have also been found using their tails to cover their head when heavy objects are falling, thus they can protect their fragile heads. The fluffy tail of some species of squirrels is not that long to wrap it around their entire bodies, but they manage to extend it over their delicate parts (the head).

Squirrels make use of their fluffy tails as a defense technique, it is believed that the raising of the tail can increase their stress hormones, thus they get more energy to move quickly away from such dangers. The African squirrel has one of the longest and narrowest tail among all squirrel species in the world and it takes special care of it, grooming it for several hours a day. To groom the trail the squirrel scratches and rubs it with the bark of a tree, to ensure that all stick materials are removed effectively. The squirrel sometimes wags its tail in water from streams or nearby ponds to keep it clean and tidy.

Aside from being used as a security feature, the squirrel’s tail can also be used as a form of communication; it helps squirrels stay connected whether they are in danger or when there are foods located nearby. The tail is developed in such a flexible way that it can move in different directions to create different signals to other squirrels around. The Squirrel tail is normally less than 7 inches in length and the longest tail is often found in ground squirrels. While tree squirrels have moderate or medium tail size, the flying squirrels do have the shortest tails of all the different types of squirrels in the world.

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