Squirrels

A community portal about Squirrels with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Squirrel is the common name for rodents of the family Sciuridae. In everyday speech in the English -speaking world, it usually refers to members of the genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus. These typical members of the family are tree squirrels with large...more

A community portal about Squirrels with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Squirrel is the common name for rodents of the family Sciuridae. In everyday speech in the English -speaking world, it usually refers to members of the genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus. These typical members of the family are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, and are indigenous to Europe, Asia and the Americas. Similar genera are found in Africa. However, the Sciuridae also include flying squirrels, and ground squirrels such as the chipmunks, prairie dogs, and woodchucks. The unrelated family Anomaluridae also have "squirrel" in their common name, though they are usually referred to as "scaly-tailed flying squirrels". The word squirrel comes from the Old French esqurial, which itself comes from the Vulgar Latin word scuriolus. The pronunciation of this animal's name varies. The British way uses a short "i". The American pronunciation can rhyme either with "curl" or with "Merril", varying regionally.