Animal of the Week: Indian Giant Squirrel



(Image credit: Wikimedia user Bishancm)

Keeping with National Squirrel Appreciation Day, this week's featured animal is the Indian Giant Squirrel, the largest of the squirrel family. Found primarily in India, the Indian Giant Squirrel's body is typically 14-16 inches long and it's tail is another 20 inches. According to its wikipedia page:

The Indian giant squirrel is an upper-canopy dwelling species, which rarely leaves the trees, and requires "tall profusely branched trees for the construction of nests." It travels from tree to tree with jumps of up to 6 m (19.69 ft). When in danger, the Ratufa indica often freezes or flattens itself against the tree trunk, instead of fleeing. Its main predators are the birds of prey and the leopard. The Giant Squirrel is mostly active in the early hours of the morning and in the evening, resting in the midday. It is a shy, wary animal and not easy to discover.



Some more pics:



Courtesey of Challiyan



Picture By Sinu S Kumar

Taken by Rakesh Kumar Dogra



Squirrel Appreciation Day

Today, January 21, is national Squirrel Appreciation Day. These small, furry creatures are found throughout the world and in many sizes, shapes and colors.  Although sometimes a pest, few can say that these cousins of rats aren't at least a little cute. Squirrel Appreciation Day was created by Christy Hargrove, a wildlife rehabilitator from Asheville, North Carolina. Started in 2001, Christy says the, "celebration of the event itself is up to the individual or group." Read the original store here.

Some squirrel facts from nwf.org:

• There are more than 300 species of squirrel.
• Different types of squirrels range in size from five inches (the African pygmy squirrel) to three feet (Indian giant squirrel).
• The word "squirrel" comes from the Greek word skiouros, which means shadow-tailed.
• Squirrels have brought down the NASDAQ stock market twice, once in 1987 and once in 1994.