Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

 North American red squirrel, one of the most common species of North American squirrels and the smallest of the tree-climbing squirrels. The North American red squirrel is common in the evergreen forests of North America, where it is found in mountainous regions from Canada and Alaska south to Texas in the west and in Tennessee and South Carolina in the southeast.

 This squirrel is about 16 cm (about 6.5 in) long, not including its typically bushy 13-cm (5-in) tail, and weighs 140 to 200 g (5 to 7 oz). In summer it is olive-gray with a black stripe down each side and white underneath; in winter it is rusty red. Red squirrels mate early in spring, after which the female constructs a nest of dried grasses and shredded bark on the branches of a tree. She gives birth to three to six young in this nest five weeks after mating. The young are born hairless and blind, and open their eyes at four weeks. They can care for themselves at five weeks. The average life span of the red squirrel is from 6 to 10 years.

 The North American red squirrel feeds mainly on seeds, nuts, and berries. It also consumes various kinds of mushrooms, which it sundries before eating or storing for winter. It may also eat insects and occasionally feeds on bird eggs and even young birds.