A Squirrel With Bunny Ears

The True Story of the Abert's Squirrel

The Abert’s Squirrel with its Characteristic Long Ears

When I first visited the towering pine forests of Northern Arizona, my daughter who lives in Flagstaff, told me about a squirrel with unusually long ears. The first time I saw one of these strange critters, I thought I was looking at a miniature rabbit. Then it scampered up a tree and I realized this was no bunny. This was the Abert’s squirrel she had been telling me about.

The Abert's squirrel (Sciurus Aberti Woodhouse) is named after two people. Colonel John James Abert (1788 – 1863) was an American military officer and naturalist. He was the head of the Corps of Topographical Engineers who led the effort to explore and map the west. Samuel Washington Woodhouse (1821 – 1904) was a doctor and naturalist for the 1851 Sitgreaves Expedition which explored from New Mexico, across Arizona to Fort Yuma in California.

Abert’s squirrels are identified by their dark gray back with a reddish-brown patch on top, white underbelly and large bushy tail. The big tufted ears are the most distinctive feature. The ear tufts are longer in the winter and may disappear altogether in the summer. Abert's squirrels have strong rear paws and hind legs which makes it well-adapted for living in trees, climbing and jumping from branch to branch. They are a non-territorial animal that may have an overlapping range with other squirrels. They do not hibernate or cache their food and can be seen foraging throughout the year.

Abert's squirrels live in the mountains of Northern Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, parts of Wyoming and North Central Mexico where they thrive in the Ponderosa pine forests. Flagstaff is an ideal location for the Abert’s squirrel because of its proximity to the Coconino National Forest which contains the largest stand of Ponderosa pine trees in the world.

Eating is a complicated, messy and year-round affair for the Abert’s squirrel. Its favorite food source is the Ponderosa pine cone which begins to develop in May. The squirrel holds the cone with its front paws and rotates it, peeling away and discarding the scales to consume the tasty seeds. As pine cones mature through the summer a single squirrel can eat the seeds from up to 75 cones per day. As soon as the pine cones are depleted of seeds, the Abert’s squirrel turns to the pine twigs for its primary source of food. After the needle clusters and outer bark of the twigs are removed and discarded, the nutritious inner bark is consumed. In the wintertime a single squirrel can eat 45 twigs per day. The squirrel’s diet also includes the buds and shoots of the pine as well as tree sap and fungi that they dig up. The tree sap is thought to be a “sweet treat” for the squirrels.

The symbiotic relationship between squirrel and pine tree is both complex and intriguing. The tree provides the squirrel with the nutrition it needs; the squirrel helps the tree by spreading spores from the fungi they eat. The fungi then grow around the tree roots to help maintain moisture which is beneficial to the survival of the Ponderosa pine.

The messy eating habits of the Abert's squirrel benefits other animals too. When uneaten pine scales and outer bark are dropped, the debris piles up below the tree. This squirrel “trash pile” is quickly consumed by mule deer.

The Abert's squirrel builds its nest high up in the branches of the Ponderosa pine tree. A typical nest is built from pine twigs and is similar in size to that of a large bird. Plant material is collected to line the nest which is used for sleeping and living during cold weather as well as for raising the young. In late spring or early summer, one to five pink hairless and sightless baby squirrels are born. By August, the youngsters emerge from the nest to begin foraging alongside the parents.

As I study, photograph and write about nature, I am constantly learning different ways that wildlife adapts and connects to its natural surroundings. The symbiotic relationship of the Abert’s squirrel with the Ponderosa pine forest is just one example of how all life is interconnected. Nature is a delicate balance that we can appreciate and must all work to protect.

See more Abert’s Squirrel pictures at the Abert’s Squirrel Gallery.

Jeff Goulden is a nature, landscape, wildlife photographer and writer based in Flagstaff, Arizona. His work has appeared in Audubon, National Geographic, Nature Conservancy, Wilderness Society and other publications.

See more of Jeff's photography at www.JeffGouldenPhotography.com. Downloads are available at Getty Images. Selected fine art prints and other unique photo products are available at Fine Art America.