Eurasian red squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
Donsky · Vake-Saburtalo, Tbilisi Georgia field photo
Key facts in one look
- Size
- Body 19.5–28 cm, 250–340 g
- Diet
- Seeds, nuts, mushrooms
- Status in Georgia
- Introduced, widespread
- Habitat
- Forests, parks, orchards
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) did not live in the Caucasus naturally: it was released here repeatedly from the late 1930s, or from the 1950s by other accounts. Today it is widespread in Georgia, from Borjomi, Bakuriani and Abastumani to Mestia and the Tbilisi Botanical Garden. In the Caucasus the introduced squirrel has pushed the native Caucasian squirrel out of coniferous forests. Both live in Georgia and look alike. So look at the belly: the red squirrel's is white or pale, the Caucasian squirrel's rusty or yellowish.
Identification
Eurasian red squirrel: how to identify it
A typical squirrel: a long, lithe body, a bushy tail, a round head and large black eyes. The ears are long, with tufts of fur at the tips in winter. It is most easily confused with the Caucasian squirrel.
The body is 19.5–28 cm long and the tail 13–19 cm, about two thirds of the body. It weighs 250–340 g. The hind legs are clearly longer than the front ones, and the toes carry sharp claws.
The colour is very variable, by season, subspecies and individual. In summer it is reddish, brown or dark brown; in winter grey and black, sometimes with a brownish tinge. The belly is pale or white. Entirely black squirrels also occur.
The Caucasian squirrel has a greyish-brown to pale grey back, a rusty-brown to yellowish belly and a yellowish-brown to deep red tail. The red squirrel has a pale or white belly. The back colour varies in both, so rely on the belly when identifying them.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
A forest animal. It likes mixed conifer-broadleaf and mature coniferous forests best, and in the mountains it climbs to the upper forest line. In the Caucasus it has also taken to orchards and vineyards, and often settles in parks and city squares. In broadleaf forest it lives in tree hollows; in conifers it builds a round nest of dry twigs 25–30 cm across, 7–15 m above the ground. One squirrel has up to 15 nests and moves every 2–3 days. In Georgia it has been found in Borjomi, Bakuriani, Abastumani, Bakhmaro, Mestia, Oni, Shovi, Saguramo, Manglisi, Tskneti, the Tbilisi Botanical Garden, Kobuleti, Sokhumi and Gagra.
The Eurasian red squirrel map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. Seven regions have enough records: Tbilisi, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Kakheti, Abkhazia, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti and Imereti.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
Its diet includes more than 130 foods, chief among them the seeds of conifers. In oak woods and hazel thickets it eats acorns and hazelnuts. It also eats mushrooms, buds, shoots, berries and lichens. In the breeding season it does not refuse insects, eggs, nestlings and small vertebrates. For winter it stores acorns, nuts and cones in hollows or buries them among roots, and dries mushrooms on branches. It often forgets its caches, and some seeds sprout in spring and help the forest regrow.
It is active by day, most of all in the morning and evening. It does not hibernate, but in hard frost and bad weather it stays in the nest for long periods, half dozing. It leaps 3–4 m straight from tree to tree and 10–15 m in a downward arc, steering with its tail. It moults twice a year. Breeding starts from late January to early March and lasts until July or August. A female has 1–2 litters a year, up to 3 in good years. Gestation lasts 35–38 days, and a litter holds 3–10 young, most often 4–6. Newborns are naked and blind, weigh about 8 g and open their eyes at 30–32 days. In the wild a squirrel over 4 years old is already old; in captivity it lives 10–12 years.
Globally the Eurasian red squirrel is Least Concern (LC, 2023). In Georgia the 2021 national assessment also lists it as Least Concern (LC), with a stable population. In the Caucasus it is an introduced species and is replacing the native Caucasian squirrel in coniferous forests. Its numbers depend most on food shortages and epizootics, and much less on predators. It is hunted by owls, goshawks and pine martens, and on the ground by foxes and cats.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
No. It did not live in the Caucasus naturally and was released here from the late 1930s, or from the 1950s by other accounts. The released squirrels belonged to the Altai subspecies. Today it lives in many of Georgia's forests and parks. The native species is the Caucasian squirrel.
By the belly. The red squirrel has a pale or white belly, the Caucasian squirrel a rusty-brown to yellowish one. The back colour varies in both, so do not rely on it. The red squirrel also has ear tufts in winter. If you can, photograph the squirrel from the side or from below.
Mostly conifer seeds, and acorns and hazelnuts in oak and hazel woods. It also eats mushrooms, buds and berries, and in spring insects, eggs and nestlings. It stores food for winter and dries mushrooms on branches. A forgotten seed often grows into a new tree.
No. It stays active all winter and only in hard frost and bad weather remains in the nest for long periods, half dozing. Then it lives on the stores it has made. So you may see it in a snowy winter forest too.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
