There is a pecking order among animals, some animals have the ability to dominate based on their size, gender or their ability to hunt. Squirrels also have a pecking order, dominance is based on size, gender and age but what does this mean? Do these animals attack each other for food and mates? This article explores the question of ‘do squirrels fight’
Squirrels aren’t always the docile little creatures we humans see them as, squirrels do fight. If two male squirrels are fighting over who gets to mate with a female, the pair will chase and fight each other to assess who is the dominant one. If a squirrel trespasses in another squirrels territory it may get attacked
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Do squirrels fight?
We humans know squirrels to be very docile creatures, if squirrels are not used to being around humans, they are shy to come close to us, even if we’re offering food. That being said, they are very comfortable around their own kind. You’ve probably seen squirrels out in the garden, or park, fighting with each other, these animals fight for various reasons:
When two male squirrels want to reproduce with a female they will battle it out to figure out which can mate with her. This involves the pair chasing each other, then fighting, fighting involves aggressively nipping at each other. The dominant male will win and the other will usually accept defeat.
After this fighting is done, the dominant male will run after the female. This is the male’s way of figuring out if she is in heat. Once he catches her, the two can begin to copulate. Sometimes, if the less dominant male wants to mate with the female, but doesn’t want to fight the dominant male, he may hang around the female’s territory. When the dominant male and the female start to mate, the less dominant male will attack the male and try to scare him away giving the less dominant male a chance to mate.
These animals generally don’t fight to keep their territory safe from other squirrels, they will rather chase the intruder off. That being said, if an intruder does not leave, the squirrel living in that territory may bite, scratch and nip in an effort to shoo the intruder away.
Younger squirrels chase each other, this is their way of play fighting but these activities don’t usually result in aggressive behaviour or fighting.
Will squirrels kill each other?
Squirrels do sometimes kill each other. This usually doesn’t happen between adult squirrels but rather between adult male squirrels and the pups of another male. This is called sexually selected infanticide. A male squirrel will kill the pups of another male in order to increase his chances of mating with the mother squirrel. This happens when food is abundant in the area.
When food is abundant in the area, females will have two litters in a breeding season because she knows that there will be enough food for all her pups. Males are aware that she will have two litters, if a male fathers the first litter he will kill off the pups in the second litter (which belong to a different male) giving him the opportunity to have 2 sets of pups
Do squirrels get aggressive with humans?
It is unlikely that a squirrel will get aggressive with a human, but it can still happen. Generally, squirrels are afraid of humans, they know that they are lower in the food chain and thus try to stay away from us. That being said, there have been some documented cases of squirrels getting aggressive with and even attacking humans. This can happen if a human gets too close to a squirrel and the animal feels that it has to fight to defend itself.
Also, if a squirrel is infected with rabies, it will likely seek you out and get aggressive with you. Rabies causes a change in the brains of squirrels making them not fear humans and causing them to act aggressively towards us and other animals
Conclusion:
In conclusion, although squirrels are docile animals, they do fight on occasion. Male squirrels may fight over who gets to mate with a female squirrel, also, if a squirrel trespasses in another squirrels territory it may be attacked. The only instance where squirrels will likely kill each other is when a male squirrel kills a litter of pups so that he can get a chance to mate with the mother and have another litter. It is unlikely that a squirrel will become aggressive with a human
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other squirrel related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Squirrel barking at me, why this happens, Pet squirrel getting aggressive, why and what to do, Do squirrels eat other squirrels?, Do squirrels eat their dead?