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 Indian Palm squirrel

Information about Indian Palm squirrel

Meet the Indian Palm squirrel ! Not cows only are considered sacred in India, in the Hindu texts was a powerful god named Lord Rama built a bridge over the sea to help him find his kidnapped wife when he helped his squirrel transfer of small gravel to a construction zone. Today, the Indian Palm squirrel is considered sacred to many Indians thanks to that story, yet it has become an invasive species that threatens new habitats far from the borders of India.

Originally found in parts of India and Sri Lanka, the Indian Palm squirrel is considered sacred in India, and in turn has become an unfair threat in countries such as Australia

Amazing Facts about Indian Palm squirrel

The Indian Palm squirrel escaped from Perth Zoo in Australia and quickly began to expand across the city's suburbs, peaking at more than 1,000 individuals in Australia, less than 10 of which are believed to live as an invasive species in Australia today.

Indian squirrel differs from other squirrels in that it has no winter hibernation
The Indian Palm squirrel is known for its distinctive three lines across its back, however it is far from being the only squirrel species in India with unique markings, the Indian giant squirrel is known to have a " rainbow coat!”

Scientific name and classification of the Indian squirrel

The scientific name of the Indian Palm squirrel is funambulus palmarum , the Latin word Funambulus means walking on a tightrope, this describes the agility of the squirrel,and palmarum means that it is a palm tree.

Another name for the squirrel is the "three-line palm squirrel", because of its stripes it is very similar to the Indian squirrel (Squirrel), but Chipmunk belongs to a completely different genus.

Appearance and behavior of the Indian squirrel

The Indian squirrel is about 6 to 7.8 inches long, its body is slightly longer than its thick tail, it also has a gray-brown back with three stripes, and it is interesting that these lines can be seen on newborn squirrels even before they grow fur.

Young squirrels are lighter in color than adults, and sometimes squirrels are born white because they lack the pigment that gives other squirrels their color, their fur is white and their eyes are red.

The middle of the three lines extends from the squirrel's head to its tail, but the outer lines start from the squirrel's front legs and stop at its hind legs.

The belly is creamy and the tail has long black and white fur, and the fur is generally soft and silky, and the Indian squirrel has small triangular ears and large dark eyes on both sides of its head, which gives it an almost 360-degree view and helps it avoid predators.

The average Indian squirrel weighs about 3.5 to 4.2 ounces (100 to 120 grams) and is surprisingly fast for its size, can walk about 10 miles per hour (16 km / h) and not only has bristles on its face like cats but also has bristles on its legs that give it a great sense of touch.

As for the Indian squirrel has four fingers on each of its paws, including the primitive thumb, the paws have claws that help to climb, and the ankles in its hind legs can rotate 180 degrees, this helps to go down a tree or the head of the telephone pole first because its hind feet are able to hold the wood

Since the squirrel is a type of rodent so its teeth continue to grow, as the biting of its food maintains the health and size of its teeth, especially the couple of long front teeth which are called incisors, it is worth mentioning that the typical arrangement of teeth is a couple of incisors that gnaw food, the cheek teeth that grind food, and there”

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An adobrable Indian Palm Squirrel trying out different foods

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Indian squirrel habitat

The origin of the Indian squirrel goes back to the warm and humid regions of the South Indian subcontinent, it builds its nests on top of the trees that are there and not just palm trees, the squirrel's Nest is called dray and is woven from grass, and instead of going into hibernation during the winter, the Indian squirrel stays in its nest until

Diet of Indian Palm squirrel

The squirrel is a carnivore and plant, meaning that it will eat almost anything although it prefers fruit and nuts.

In India, prefer a squirrel palm crops such as nuts, sugar cane, grapes, mango, apple, plus, I won't hesitate to eat eggs and even chicks found in poultry farms, this is what makes it particularly dangerous as soda, on the other hand eat insects such as larvae that receive the crop also.

In its natural environment, the Indian squirrel eats other smaller mammals such as mice, small reptiles, insects and birds as well as fruit, nuts, eggs and seeds, and like humans the squirrel cannot digest cellulose.

And because the Indian squirrel is revered in India, people also feed it, as a result of which some squirrels become completely full, expecting to make friends from human friends.

Like many other species of squirrels, the Indian squirrel is fairly aggressive when it comes to protecting its food stash, it will kill any other animal that tries to steal it, it is also a noisy squirrel and triggers a characteristic alarm call when it feels in danger.

Predators and threats of the Indian squirrel

Previously due to the small size of the Indian Palm squirrel, it is a favorite prey for any type of carnivore, including mammals such as wild cats, birds such as hawks or Eagles, and reptiles such as snakes.

Outside India, humans hunt and kill the Indian Palm squirrel, especially in those areas where it has become an invasive animal, in Western Australia after the Indian Palm squirrel escaped from Perth Zoo, a no-go zone was established around it to prevent its spread, however after it continued to escape a pest control programme was put in place to reduce its numbers

Palm squirrel: reproduction, young, life cycle

The palm squirrel is considered solitary, meeting with other individuals of it only when mating in the fall, they chase each other, the males have a mating call, and the sense of smell in the male can also tell him whether the female is ready to mate.

Only the female Palm squirrel cares for the young, giving birth after 34 days of pregnancy to two or three young, the young are born blind and hairless, they are also weaned after 10 weeks, and are ready to breed when they are nine months old.

The palm squirrel lives about two to four years, although most wild squirrels die within the first year, and the largest Indian Palm squirrel lived about five and a half years.

Palm squirrel numbers :

Biologists do not really know how many palm squirrels are in the wild, but its number is very abundant and tends to rise, and this species has also been classified as " the least concern”