{"id":426444,"date":"2026-01-22T19:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/426444\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T19:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:10:08","slug":"today-is-a-big-day-for-squirrels-here-are-5-fun-facts-about-the-rodent-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/426444\/","title":{"rendered":"Today is a big day for squirrels. Here are 5 fun facts about the rodent | story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Squirrel Appreciation Day celebrates 25th anniversary<\/p>\n

You’ve been waiting all year, and now it\u2019s finally time to give a big shoutout to one of the most commonly seen creatures across our country.<\/p>\n

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day, which has been celebrated since 2001 according to The National Day Calendar.<\/p>\n

The day, according to the website, was created by American Wildlife Rehabilitator Christy Hargrove as a way to celebrate and recognize a rodent that is so familiar to many of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In honour of our furry friends, let\u2019s take a look at five fun and strange facts you may not have known.<\/p>\n

1. Groundhogs, prairie Dogs, and chipmunks are squirrels<\/p>\n

There are actually more than 250 different types of squirrels across the planet.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

The American red squirrel, seen here, is found in every province and territory across Canada. \u00a0(Image credit: Brian Keating)<\/p>\n

That includes more than 20 different species that exist all over Canada.<\/p>\n

2. There are flying squirrels all over Canada<\/p>\n

There are three species of flying squirrels found across Canada.<\/p>\n

Those include the Northern flying squirrel, the Southern flying squirrel, and the recently named Humboldt’s flying squirrel, which was once thought to be a variant of the Northern breed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Humboldt’s flying squirrel is found on the Pacific coast between southern B.C. and northern California, and was only recently classified in 2017.\u00a0(Image credit: Nick Kerhoulas)<\/p>\n

The reason you might not have seen one before is because they are nocturnal, meaning they only come out at night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their name is misleading, however. Flying squirrels don\u2019t actually fly, but instead use flaps of skin between their forelegs and back legs to glide through the air.<\/p>\n

Some species can glide almost 450 metres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

3. Squirrels come in many sizes<\/p>\n

African pigmy squirrels are the smallest squirrels in the world, and grow to about 10 centimetres long.<\/p>\n

In comparison, the largest are the giant squirrels of Asia, which can grow to about a metre in length.<\/p>\n

4. Black squirrels aren\u2019t a thing<\/p>\n

In some parts of Canada, it\u2019s quite common to see jet-black squirrels roaming around.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Black squirrels aren\u2019t their own species. They are a unique genetic expression of one of two types of squirrels. \u00a0(Image credit: Jason Lowther\/CBC)<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no such thing as a black squirrel species.<\/p>\n

They are, instead, either an Eastern grey squirrel or fox squirrel that have more melanin in their fur, which is a pigment produced in animals that gives skin and hair its colour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

5. Squirrels plant thousands of trees each year<\/p>\n

If governments around the world aren\u2019t doing enough to protect the environment, thankfully squirrels are doing their part.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because squirrels abandon \u2014 and in some cases, completely forget about \u2014 the nuts and acorns they bury underground, leading to the birth of many trees each year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have more questions? \ufeffWant to tell us how we’re doing? Use the \u201csend us feedback\u201d link below. \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n

TOP IMAGE CREDIT: Ivanoh Demers\/CBC\/Radio-Canada<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Squirrel Appreciation Day celebrates 25th anniversary You’ve been waiting all year, and now it\u2019s finally time to give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-426444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}