What Do Squirrels Do With Their Tails?

Reader Contribution by Elizabeth Gatto
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Squirrels are extremely cute, agile, friendly and fearless, making them one of the most interesting rodents. They have small heads with big beady eyes, small flexible ears, soft bodies with tiny paws and, their most defining characteristic – extremely bushy tails. Some species of squirrels have bushier tails than others, but all of them have in common that their tails are almost as long as their bodies, very bushy and very useful, they’re not there just to make them look cute.

So, what do squirrels actually use their tails for? A squirrel’s tail serves as a sort of multitool or all-purpose tool that comes in handy for a wide variety of things. As squirrels are great climbers, they are constantly scurrying up and down trees and across branches, over fences and in between plants, and their tails are mainly responsible for helping them keep their balance as they fearlessly jump from branch to branch in search of food.

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