Why Squirrels Deserve Your Respect (If Not Your Birdseed)

Squirrels can be found in all sorts of habitats, from boreal forests to suburban backyards. But let’s be honest; you don’t really care where they live, so long as it’s far, far from your bird feeder. 

Many people go to great lengths to deter squirrels, from buying seed coated with chili pepper to engineering squirrel-proof feeder setups that would make Rube Goldberg proud. But experts say that the more than 65 species of tree and ground squirrels native to North America are worthy of not just respect but also admiration. “They are remarkable for how successful they are in places that are undergoing massive environmental change,” says Brad Cosentino, an ecologist at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

The same instincts that drive tree squirrels to ransack bird feeders also make them critical to the success of forests. They constantly stash stockpiles of nuts and seeds, and the buried treasures they forget sprout into the next generation of trees that birds and other wildlife depend on. Eastern gray squirrels, the most widespread squirrels in North America, are particularly prodigious tree planters: They scatter acorns widely around the forest and tend to bury healthier acorns while immediately eating those infested with weevils.

Tree squirrels have all sorts of crafty adaptations to their environment, from back feet that can rotate 180 degrees to tails that help regulate their temperature, trapping heat in winter and dispersing it in summer. Eastern gray squirrels even appear to be responding to their shifting terrain in a striking way: by changing color.

In pre-Colonial times, most gray squirrels in New England and the Upper Midwest were actually black, good camouflage in dense, shady, old-growth forests. In today’s sunnier, human-modified landscapes, the species is predominantly gray—except in some urban areas, where black morphs are still common. Figuring out why is the goal of a community science program that Cosentino directs called Squirrel Mapper, whose researchers have analyzed tens of thousands of squirrel photos submitted by the public. “I just think it’s cool that such an abundant creature that almost everybody in the United States is familiar with has a really interesting story about evolution going on right in their backyard,” he says. 

That might not put the birdseed back in your feeder, but hey—squirrels have to eat, too.

This story originally ran in the Fall 2025 issue as “Know Thine Enemy.” To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.