Swasti Nourmawati

The Incredible Squirrel

There are thousand kinds of animal which live in America. One of them is squirrel. Squirrels are familiar to almost everyone. More than 200 squirrel species live all over the world, with the notable exception of United States .And there are many kinds of squirrel live in America, two kinds of them are the gray squirrel or Sciurus carolinensis and the southern flying squirrel or Glaucomys volans. Both of them are mammals. They are found in the eastern United States and adjacent southern Canada; New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to eastern Texas and Florida. Although they are the same species from one region and live in the same habitat, eat the same food, and have the same color, but actually they are different in size and behavior.
Generally, the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel have similarities in their habitat, food, and color. They are found in woodland areas in most parts of the eastern United States. They are also seen in many parks, backyards, and forests throughout the country. forests usually contain large amounts of dense vegetation that provides sufficient amount of food sources and favorable shelters for Squirrels. The gray squirrels bury acorns. They usually dig up the ground, finding by smell, not memory. Like the gray squirrel, the southern flying squirrel also often searches the ground for nuts, seeds, or acorns for their food. Both the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel eat a range of foods such as tree bark, many types of seeds and acorns, walnuts, and other nuts, and some types of fungi found in the forests. On very rare occasions, when its usual food source is scarce, they will also prey upon insects, frogs, small rodents. And similar to the gray squirrels, the southern flying squirrels also have the same color in their body, gray above and paler color below.
Besides, the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel also have differences. They are quite different in their size and behavior. The gray squirrels measure about 20-25 inches long, including the tail. The head and body length is from 23 to 30 cm, the tail from 19 to 25 cm, but the southern flying squirrels measure only about ten inches long, including the tail. They have large dark eyes and a flattened tail. And another difference is that the gray squirrels like to scamper up an down the trees and across the ground. In contrast, the southern flying squirrels like gliding from tree to tree. The southern flying squirrels have a furry membrane called a patagium which extends between the front and rear legs, used to glide through the air. Although graceful in flight, they are particularly vulnerable on the ground.
From the explanation above, we know now the similarities also the differences between the gray squirrel and the southern flying squirrel. Although from the appearance they look the same, but if we see and learn more about them, we finally know that actually they differ in the size and behavior.

By: Swasti Nourmawati
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