Squirrels are a type of animals any person would generally come across in his/her home environment. There are so many types of them found around the world like tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and flying squirrels. If you ever come across an orphaned squirrel which you think of adopting, you might have to look into many things like shelter and food. If you are wondering what the natural diet of a squirrel is and how to feed it, you have to learn about its favorite foods. Even if you do not own a squirrel, you might wonder how it gets its food from the wild.

What Do Squirrels Eat?

When it comes to food, squirrels aren’t very picky. That is to say, they might eat anything from fruits, vegetables to nuts. If you ever happen to observe what a squirrel feeds on as its natural diet, you might know this. In detail, squirrels show much interest in munching a variety of fruits and vegetables. You will undoubtedly know this if your garden has a mango tree or any other tree bearing fruits. But what they absolutely love to munch and munch is nuts! They would feed on nuts if you offer them and wild squirrels go on hunting in search of nuts. Then there are insects, fungi and plant materials that squirrels prefer eating. They are not the top most favorites, but they will definitely taste them if they ever come across those.

What Do Squirrels Don’t Like to Eat?

Now you might wonder if there’s anything they don’t eat because so far it is quite evident that they munch just about anything. But, yes even they have some odd food they don’t prefer in their diet. Generally, squirrels tend to skip spicy seeds that grow in the wild. Raw garlic, raw onions and all sorts of hot pepper are not in their food list. Some people who want to deter squirrels from their home garden use garlic or pepper spray as the odor itself is enough to drive them away. Also, squirrels usually prefer vegetarian food before animal decays and insects.

How Does A Squirrel Get Its Food?

Squirrels are famously known as food gatherers and hoarders. So, a squirrel doesn’t just gather food for the day but enough to last several days so that it doesn’t have to go in search of food the next day. The main sense organ used to detect food is the nose because squirrels have a very sharp sense of smell. Through this, they can track fruits, nuts, and decayed food items. While squirrels gather whatever they can with their paws, they store it in a safe place. They are very keen on stocking food items for future use, especially to use in times of winter. Burrows of animals, tree hollows are places where squirrels usually store other than in their nests. Sometimes they even bury in underneath the soil.

Squirrel diet is always an interesting thing to ponder on. If you are bringing up a squirrel, you can feed just about anything, but only once they are fully grown. The interesting fact about squirrels when gathering and hiding food is that sometimes even they forget where they have hidden the food items. So, one squirrel's lost food can be another one’s newly found food.

Read the How to get rid of squirrels page for helpful information and to learn more about What Is the Natural Diet of a Squirrel?