Squirrels
In Redwall
- Alignment: Good
- Nicknames: Treejumper, bushtail
- Appearance: Redwall squirrels are usually red squirrels- small and
with cherry red fur- as red squirrels are native to England. However,
many people use gray squirrels and fox squirrels, and occasionally other
species, in RPGs. Squirrels tend to be sinewy and lean, very athletic
as a whole, and rarely, if ever, overweight. They are quick and
agile. Many squirrelmaids are often described as very attractive, but
it seems that brains are exchanged for beauty- attractive squirrelmaids tend
to be ditzy and flirtatious. Most tend to carry standard-sized bows
and wear forest or earth shaded tunics. The occasional squirrel will
carry a dirk or some other small weapon, but never anything cumbersome.
- Diet: Squirrels eat whatever other goodbeasts eat, though they're
especially fond of nuts.
- Habitat: A squirrel's house is called a drey. A drey
may or may not be in a tree; it might be a building rather than a hole in a
tree, or it could even be a tree house.
- Typical Personality: Squirrels don't really have a typical
personality - they're kind of like mice in that respect.
- Habits: Redwall squirrels are champion climbers, and a champion
climbing squirrel is called a treewhiffler. Squirrels tend to be very
good archers.
Outside Redwall
- Classification: Species: Sciurus vulgaris
- Other Names: Red squirrel
- Appearance: Red squirrels are the only squirrels native to Britain,
and perhaps the smallest squirrel breed. They have a dark chestnut
coat (sometimes brown or gray, but usually red) which contrasts sharply with
their white belly, though in the winter the red can darken to a black, and
their ears are extremely tufted.
- Life Span: Squirrels can live for up to six years in the wild.
- Diet: Red squirrels eat tree seeds, nuts, acorns, beechnuts, tree
flowers and shoots, and mushrooms and fungi from under tree bark. They
can also eat eggs when food is scarce, as well as garden flowers and
vegetables.
- Habitat: Squirrel nests, called dreys, are made of twigs in
a tree fork or tree hollow and lined with hair, moss, and dry grass.
Several squirrels may use the same drey, either at the same time or on
alternating days. They usually make these dreys in conifer forests and
broad-leaved woodland.
- Typical Personality: Red squirrels center most of their attention
on finding food and escaping predators. They can be quite noisy at
times.
- Habits: Squirrels are diurnal, active during the day, though they
may take a mid-day nap for an hour or two in the summer. They do not
hibernate and are not territorial.
- Life Cycle: The breeding season is between mid-winter and
summer. Females have one or two litters of 2 - 3 young a year, which
are weaned at around ten weeks of age.
- Sites for Further Research: