Yucatán Squirrel

About the Yucatán Squirrel

The Yucatan squirrel (Sciurus yucatanensis), originally named the Yucatan gray squirrel, also once named the Campeche squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus found in the Yucatán Peninsula and adjacent areas. It is native to northern Belize, northeastern Guatemala, and southeast Mexico.

The Yucatan squirrel lives in dry deciduous and evergreen forests, semiarid pine-oak woodlands, and secondary forest growing in formerly logged areas. They are found in lowlands below an altitude of 750 metres (2,460 ft). They are active during the day and rest during the night, spending most of their time in trees. They are most active in the early morning, but may be seen sunning on a branch later in the day.

Their dreys (or nests), to be found in branches high up in the trees, are built from leaves and twigs. Their food consists of soft fruit, nuts and seeds, whilst Reid in 2009 concluded that their main diet consists of flowers, buds, and shoots. Females generally give birth to two or three young during the April to August dry season.

They are predated by birds of prey, wild cats and dogs, procyonids, primates, and snakes. The Yucatan squirrel... Wikipedia →