Fox Squirrel

rodents · tree squirrels · North America · giant

Largest tree squirrel. Fox squirrels are the biggest tree squirrels living wild in North America, which makes them much easier to spot than their smaller cousins like red squirrels and gray squirrels.

Colorful coat. These squirrels can be orange, gray, brown, or even black, so they look quite different from each other depending on where they live.

Ancient Greek name. The word 'Sciurus' comes from two Greek words: 'skia' meaning shade and 'oura' meaning tail, because their big fluffy tails create shadows.

Tree experts. Fox squirrels spend most of their time in trees where they build nests and search for acorns, nuts, and seeds to eat.

Easy to mix up. Even though they're much bigger, people sometimes confuse fox squirrels with red squirrels or gray squirrels when they all live in the same area.