Why are squirrels called squirrels?

Because it looks like a mouse, it often lives on pine trees and eats pine cones.

Squirrel (squirrel; Squirrel), also known as squirrel, common squirrel. Mammals, rodents and squirrels. There are 5 maxillary molars and 4 mandibular molars. There are no skin wings between the front and rear limbs. There are nearly 35 genera and 2 12 species in the world, and there are 24 species of1kloc-0/genus in China, of which 2 species are endemic to China.

Squirrels in a narrow sense are slender, with a body length of 17 ~ 26 cm, a tail length of 15 ~ 2 1 cm and a weight of 300 ~ 400 g. Distributed in Siberia, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Northeast China, Northeast Inner Mongolia, North Hebei and Xinjiang. Coat colors are gray (winter), dark brown (summer) and blue gray (winter), reddish brown (summer). No hibernation. I like to live in coniferous forests or broad-leaved mixed forests in cold temperate or sub-cold zones, and mostly feed in forests on both sides of hillsides and valleys. Active during the day, most active in the morning, good at climbing trees and jumping, quick in action. Usually 1 ~ 2 animals are active, but when the food is extremely poor, the phenomenon of group migration will occur. Build a nest in a tree or live in a hole in it. The nest is composed of branches and sundries of trees, with a diameter of about 50 cm. They eat hard seeds or tender leaves and buds of conifers, mushrooms, berries, and sometimes insect larvae and ant eggs. Have the habit of storing food for winter. It is renewed every spring and autumn. Give birth 2 ~ 3 times a year, usually in April and June, with 4 ~ 6 litters each time. Squirrels are famous fur animals. In winter, fur is light and warm, which is a best-selling product in the international market. However, due to the reduction of forest area, the number has decreased significantly.

Squirrels can be seen from the flat ground to the forest at an altitude of 2500 meters. They have a wide range of habitats and can adapt to the environment destroyed by human beings. They can adapt well in orchards, bamboo forests, secondary forests, broad-leaved forests and coniferous forests. During the Japanese occupation, the red-bellied squirrel was once taken to the zoo in Japan for people to watch. After escaping from the park during the Great Kanto Earthquake, it became a large naturalized animal in the local area a few years later, which shows its strong adaptability.