The simple answer is, baby squirrels don’t leave the nest until they are fully furred and can survive on their own so, without seeing the mother right next to the babies, they all look about the same size.
Most babies leave the nest in April or May. At this point the babies are fluffy and fat but the parents have exhausted their winter fat and are beginning to shed their winter fur, so look relatively small. A second litter of babies may leave the nest around September. At this point the parents have begun putting on fat and winter fur, so the apparent size difference can be greater. Because of this, it may be easier to identify babies born late in the year.
Although baby squirrels have been recorded in almost every month of the year, these two litters, early spring and late summer, are the norm. Typically the early spring babies have the highest survival rate, especially in areas where it snows, since a small squirrel has to expend more energy than a large one to stay warm and find food.
I managed to take a few pictures of a baby and a young adult male that were foraging near each other in the same park. Unfortunately, tree squirrels aren’t very social so I couldn’t get any useful pictures of them near each other, but they found my pen interesting so there is some scale. The pen is about 16cm long.
A baby grey squirrel.
An adult grey squirrel from the same population as the baby in the previous photograph.
Another view of the adult. Note the more “mature” features.
Even with the specimens in-hand, assessing age can be somewhat qualitative but when the babies are very young, they are simply more cute than the rest of the population.
If you’re a squirrel watcher, like me, I hope you take the time to record your observations at projectsquirrel.org . Your data, combined with that of others around the country, helps us understand more about squirrels and about the nature in your neighborhood!
I have 2 parents and 2 babies born sometime in Summer. They are still a family living in the same tree nest. They eat and play together. Its December. I do feed corn and sunflower seeds and occasionally peanuts.
If there is ever a orphan please contact me. IAM going to be taking wild life rescue classes
What state are you in!!! I have a baby following me around my backyard
Do squirrels ever stay together as a family? I ask because it’s May in North Central KY, and every morning my bird feeders are overrun with squirrels. I’m not exaggerating….there’s anywhere from 8-10 squirrels! I let them eat for a bit, but if I don’t scare them off they’ll eat every last crumb of food! I’m new to this area, and it’s the only place I’ve ever lived where there’s been that many squirrels together at one time. It’s EVERY day, not just occasionally. Thanks in advance 😊
The baby grey squirrel is so cutes😊💖
i know right
Mon. – Fri. there are squirrels everywhere. Sat.- Sun. they disappear. Monday they are all back. Why do they disappear on the weekend only?
Hi Karen, my name is Hilary! Omg, I got a kick out of your comment and had to respond!So I have a few “squirrel-friends” that I have been feeding every day for about a year now but on Wednesdays not one ever shows up!? I have been wondering about this also!! It’s good to know that I’m not the only one !!! Maybe yours are big partiers and are out on the town every weekend!?! 😂. As for mine maybe they all go out to celebrate hump-day!?! 🤷🏻♀️ Isn’t it the oddest thing!! I have tried to look it up and got nothing!! This whole daily routine of mine started when I was out of work during Covid and now I just can’t stop. My cat gets on his perch and the two of us could watch them for hours! 😹. They are hysterical!! They will come up on the deck right to my sliding glass door and just stare into the house or at my cat!! Or they will lay on the railing of my deck if I’m running late for their feeding time!! 😂.
Sorry for rambling on and on it’s just nice to know I’m not the only one curious about these sweet and intriguing little friends!! Good luck with yours!🐾Take care!! 😊
A lot of nest building in the trees here. Then POOF most of the squirrels vanished, just a couple males come to visit. Suspect they’re off raising babies for a month or two? Since it’s been so warm lately I think the late July/early August fall breed time line is a bit off.
I started out feeding birds , then came the squirrels , both are enjoyable to watch. One squirrel will eat out of my hand , I named him ” Big Boy” he actually comes when I call him. About two weeks my little pal has been MIA , I hoped he just moved on. Yesterday he showed up hungry as ever , was so happy to see him again. The only problem Big Boy is a girl and has a family in a large oak tree in our back yard , haven’t seen the little ones yet , maybe one of these days Big Boy will introduce me to the family.
I’ve been feeding grey squirrel for a while now it came every day for food I put out, I love seeing them run around and Bury food in my garden, but I seem to get cats now I’ve chased them off a few times, and magpies eating the nuts and even digging up the food the squirrel buries, but I haven’t seen the squirrel I call Mr squizy for a couple of days now, but the monkey nuts seem to dissappear still, just hoping he or she is OK
I live in an area where black squirrels far outnumber other species. For the past three years, one uses the nest she built maybe 25 feet up in the maple in my front yard. The most fascinating behavior I’ve noticed about Tippy, is that when she’s obviously nursing her babies, she comes down and slowly drags herself through the cool grass, as if to ease the discomfort nursing causes. Today, for the first time, three curious young ones greeted me when I went out to scatter birdseed and sunflower seeds for Tippy. They watched from the lower branches before treating me to a delightful gymnastics show. Tippy usually responds to her name and is often waiting for me when I open the door or is just relaxing on the front porch step.
Don’t feed the squirrels! They can get in your attic and do a lot of damage! They have become not so cute to me anymore!
I live in SW Michigan. I have been watching the squirrels all spring and summer. We now have more black squirrels than gray. Occasionally you see fox squirrels but not often. The pair I have been watching are what appears to be a gray male and black female. They have 4 little ones (slightly smaller than the adults) two offspring are black and two are gray. It appears the black female is getting ready to deliver another litter or already has as her nipples are hanging down. The trees in my neighborhood are very dense so I cannot locate their nest. I was of the belief that they only reproduce with their own color not a different color. The young ones are very active and still learning to become as agile and acrobatic as the adults.