It’s that time of year where you have to start worrying about your friendly neighbourhood London squirrels and their nuisance behaviour of creeping into your loft or your shed and causing damage. Before you get out the pitchforks, however, you should find out how pest control companies handle squirrels. And in the meantime, here are a few insights into what makes squirrels so interesting…

1. There are over 280 species of squirrels: they may all look similar to each other to you, and you’re not alone in thinking that, but there are a lot of different kinds!

2. Squirrels love to hoard their food: You may already know this from finding little stock piles in your garden in the spring, but squirrels are some of the worst pests for hoarding their food in hiding spots, other than foxes.

3. Squirrels are super sniffers: These guys can sniff out food that is buried a foot beneath the snow! Maybe that’s how they find all the food they’ve hidden…

4. Squirrels have great eyesight, too: This is how they keep themselves safe from predators of all kinds…they can see everything!

5. They have massive front teeth: This may be a commonly known fact for us, as we are used to seeing these animals with their large front teeth. But did you know that rodents’ teeth never stop growing? This is part of why they love nibbling so much, as it keeps the teeth from getting too big. Pretty interesting trait to have don’t you think?

6. Squirrels plant trees: When squirrels forget too dig up a hidden acorn, it can actually plant a tree. Talk about multitasking. Save a squirrel, they’re helping reverse deforestation!

7. Squirrels are sneaky: Anyone who has tried to keep a squirrel off a feeder knows this, but it goes further. Squirrels, knowing that predators are watching them bury their food, will often pretend to bury something, but not really do it. Pretty innovative, and it has proved successful so far for many squirrels out there. Being so sneaky means that squirrels are successful pests too!

It’s understandable if you aren’t the biggest fans of squirrels, except in the park, but the thing to remember is that they aren’t just pests like some rodents are. They do some good for the environment. Plus, you have to admit that some of these facts are pretty inspiring.