What Do Squirrels Eat?

Squirrels are primarily seed and nut eaters that have specialized in exploiting tree foods. Tree nuts form the foundation of their diet, particularly acorns from oak species including northern red oak and American subevergreen oak. Hickory nuts are among the most preferred squirrel foods where they grow. Nuts from maples, including hard maples and red maple, provide important nutrition. American elm, American hophornbeam, box elder, and green ash seeds are eaten in season. White pine seeds are eagerly sought and eastern white pine cones are opened for seeds. Beechnuts from American and European beech are consumed when available. Hazel nuts from common hazel provide nutrition. Squirrels also eat fruits including apples when they fall. Tree fruits like mulberries and dogwood berries supplement their diet. Fungi including Elaphomyces granulatus truffles are dug from soil and eaten. The variety of tree foods available makes squirrels highly successful across many forest types. Squirrels prefer hard seeds and nuts to soft foods, showing clear preferences for nutritious options.

Squirrel diet shifts noticeably with seasons as different foods become available. Spring is challenging as winter stores are depleted and new seed production has not begun. Squirrels eat tree buds, tender bark, and whatever seeds remain from previous year's production. They also eat insects and grubs when available. Early spring sap provides nutrition as trees begin growth. In summer, squirrels have more diverse food options including green seeds, berries, fungi, and insects. They feed less urgently since fresh foods appear regularly. Late summer and fall are critical feeding periods when squirrels gather and cache nuts for winter. Acorns fall from oaks in fall, triggering intensive gathering behavior. Hickory nuts, beechnuts, and pine seeds are collected and stored. Squirrels may cache thousands of seeds before winter arrives. Winter is the most challenging season when squirrels depend entirely on cached stores. They must remember hundreds of cache locations to retrieve enough food. Mild winters are easier than harsh winters. Southern squirrels access more fresh foods year-round than northern squirrels.

Squirrel diet varies significantly based on habitat and geographic region. In eastern deciduous forests with abundant oak trees, acorns form the primary food source. Squirrels in these regions become highly specialized at finding and processing acorns. Coniferous forests dominated by pine and fir trees shift squirrel diets toward conifer seeds. Spruce and pine cones become primary food sources. Mixed forests offer both deciduous and coniferous seeds and nuts. Urban and suburban squirrels eat many of the same natural foods as wild squirrels but supplement heavily with human-provided food from bird feeders and trash. They become less dependent on natural seed production. Northern forests present different challenges than southern forests due to longer winters and shorter growing seasons. California squirrels, Texas squirrels, and New York squirrels encounter different tree species and thus different food sources. California oak woodlands provide abundant acorns year-round. Texas squirrels face different nut trees. New York squirrels experience four distinct seasons. Each region's dominant tree species determines which foods are most important. Squirrels adapt their foraging behavior and food preferences to match available resources in their local environment.

Squirrels are famous for their seed and nut caching behavior, which is essential for winter survival. In fall, squirrels intensively gather and bury thousands of seeds and nuts in shallow caches across their territory. This behavior, called scatter-hoarding, serves two functions. First, it creates a distributed food supply for winter when buried stores can be retrieved during thaws or when snow depth allows digging. Second, any seeds not recovered eventually sprout, planting new trees that benefit forests. Squirrels locate caches through spatial memory and olfactory cues, remembering thousands of locations. They do not tag caches but instead search systematically through their territory. Some forgotten caches do sprout trees. Squirrels also gather fresh foods opportunistically when not caching. They sit upright while eating, holding food items with their front paws. They are selective feeders, examining seeds and nuts before consuming them. Damaged or moldy seeds are rejected. Squirrels may spend hours processing a single pine cone, extracting individual seeds. This deliberate feeding style ensures they obtain maximum nutrition. The caching behavior requires significant cognitive ability and planning ahead for winter survival.

Baby squirrels, called kits or kittens, depend entirely on mother's milk for the first several weeks of life. The nursing period lasts roughly eight to ten weeks depending on the species and environmental conditions. Around four to five weeks old, young squirrels begin experimenting with solid food while still nursing. They emerge from the nest for short periods and attempt to eat what adults are eating. Their mothers do not directly teach feeding but young squirrels learn through observation and imitation. By six to seven weeks, young squirrels eat increasingly solid food while still nursing occasionally. Weaning is completed by eight to ten weeks old. Juvenile squirrels must learn which foods are nutritious and how to process them properly. Learning to efficiently open nuts and crack seeds takes practice. Young squirrels observe adults and through trial and error develop proper feeding techniques. By fall of their birth year, juvenile squirrels are capable of gathering and caching seeds like adults. First-year squirrels participating in fall caching often survive their first winter on stores they created themselves. The learning period spans only a few months before juveniles are completely independent.

Squirrels living in urban and suburban areas rely heavily on human-provided foods from bird feeders and trash. Sunflower seeds in bird feeders are especially attractive to squirrels. They readily consume safflower seeds, cracked corn, and peanuts if provided. Squirrels can become quite bold around human habitats, approaching houses and yards confidently. They dig in gardens and yards searching for buried seeds and bulbs. Squirrels may damage vegetable gardens by eating produce or digging. Tree damage occurs as squirrels strip bark to access sap and inner bark tissues. Young trees are especially vulnerable to bark stripping. Nuts and seeds from human plantings are consumed, including fruit from fruit trees. Squirrels do not become truly tame from feeding but they do lose wariness. Some people enjoy watching squirrels and provide food intentionally. Others find squirrel damage problematic. To reduce conflicts, remove bird feeders if squirrel damage is severe, fence vulnerable plants, and prune tree branches away from roofs to prevent roof access. Never intentionally hand-feed squirrels as they may bite. Squirrels in California, Texas, and New York adapt well to human environments.

Squirrels' nut and seed diet differs from but overlaps with other rodents' diets. Chipmunks eat similar nuts and seeds but are smaller and less aggressive competitors than squirrels. Chipmunks are more ground-based foragers while tree squirrels are more arboreal. Ground squirrels and prairie dogs are larger ground-dwelling rodents with similar seed and plant diets but different behavioral strategies. Mice and voles are much smaller and eat seeds plus more insects and green plants. Porcupines eat bark and vegetation but much less seed than squirrels. Flying squirrels, which are smaller nocturnal relatives of tree squirrels, eat similar foods but focus more heavily on fungi and insects. Deer also eat some of the same tree seeds and nuts but browse more on twigs and vegetation. Jays and other birds compete with squirrels for tree seeds and nuts. Woodpeckers eat insects from trees rather than competing directly for seeds. Squirrels' specialized focus on nuts and seeds, combined with their caching behavior and efficiency at processing hard seeds, makes them dominant competitors for tree resources in most temperate forests. Their success depends on this specialized feeding strategy. Visit /wildlife to learn more about forest animals and their diets.