Squirrels are among the most intimate and energetic animals found throughout Michigan ’s diverse natural environments . From bustling metropolis park to remote northern forests , squirrel can be seen darting through trees , tuck solid food , or scamper across forest floors . Their presence is an all-important part of the state ’s ecosystem , contributing to seed dispersion and timberland regeneration .
This guide explores9 Types of Squirrels in Michigan , including tree squirrel , earth squirrel , chipmunks , and flying squirrels . Each species displays alone characteristics , behaviors , and habitat predilection . While some prosper in suburban environments , others are found only in privy timber area or grasslands .
Learning more about theTypes of Squirrelsin Michigancan make out-of-door adventures more engaging and enlightening . With the help of detailed verbal description and identification tips , it becomes easier to spot these fascinating brute and understand their role in Michigan ’s natural landscapes .
Different Types of Squirrels in Michigan
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger)
The Eastern Fox Squirrel is the largest mintage of tree squirrel in Michigan , easily realise by its robust size and typical coloration . It ordinarily sports a reddish - brown or orange - tinge pelage with a bushy rump that supply to its visual bulk . Some individual may appear grayer or more yellow depend on their specific region . Adults can grow up to 27 column inch in distance including the tail , and they matter about 1.5 to 2 pounds . Their strong limbs and sharp claw make them adept social climber , although they are often check foraging on the soil .
These squirrel are normally found throughout the southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan , where they prefer open woodland , edge habitats , and even urban parks . Unlike some of their more forest - dependent congeneric , Eastern Fox Squirrels are highly adaptable to human presence and often draw close in big deciduous trees in residential neighborhood . They build up leafy nests , bed as dreys , or use tree caries when usable , especially during colder months .
Eastern Fox Squirrels are primarily dynamic during the mean solar day and spend much of their time foraging for food such as acorns , walnuts , seeds , fruits , and even bird eggs . In autumn , they exhibit caching behavior , bury food to remember later during the winter . Their role in seed dispersal help maintain the health of forest ecosystems . Despite being the largest , they are in general lone and territorial but may share eating grounds when resource are plentiful .
Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
The Eastern Gray Squirrel is one of the most far-flung and familiar squirrels in Michigan . Its coat is typically gray with a white underbelly , though smutty morphs — especially coarse in Michigan — are often mistaken for a separate metal money . Adult Eastern Gray Squirrels can grow up to 20 inches in length and are more or less smaller and svelte than Fox Squirrels . Their large oculus , downlike tail , and agile movement make them excellent climbers and leaper among the crown .
These squirrel expand across both urban and rural country throughout Michigan , include cities , college campuses , parks , and hardwood forests . They are highly adaptable and lean to coexist easy with humans , often raid bird feeders and scavenging from garbage when food for thought is scarce . In innate preferences , they prefer timberland with mature tree diagram that leave ample nesting opportunity and food resource .
Eastern Gray Squirrels are diurnal and most fighting during the other forenoon and late afternoon . They have a varied diet consisting of nuts , seed , fungus , and fruits , but are also jazz to gnaw on bark and even bones to prevail minerals . Like other squirrels , they practise solid food lay away in fall . Interestingly , their retentiveness is impressive when it do to retrieving shroud food . They pass using a mix of vocalizations and prat cause , peculiarly when jeopardise or defend territory .
American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
The American Red Squirrel is much pocket-sized than both the Gray and Fox Squirrels , with a compact body , reddish pelt , and a white or wan underbelly . Adults unremarkably assess around 12 inches in length , including the tail , and weigh between 5 to 9 ounces . Their bold personality often belies their small size — they are known for being vocal , feisty , and ferociously territorial , especially during the breeding season or near their food caches .
In Michigan , American Red Squirrels are principally establish in cone-bearing forest , particularly in the northern Lower Peninsula and throughout the Upper Peninsula . However , they can also adapt to mixed forest where true pine , spruce , orfir treesare dominant . These squirrel are arboreal and construct globular nest high in trees , although they also practice tree tooth decay when uncommitted . They are less common in suburban area compared to Gray and Fox Squirrels .
Red Squirrels feed extensively on conifer seeds and are particularly fond ofpine cones , which they strip and hoard in big dunghill at the base of trees . Their diet also include fungi , berries , and occasionally bird eggs or insects . Unlike other squirrel that bury private nuts , red squirrels store food in concentrated areas . This species is active year - round , and their chatter calls and tail picture show are familiar sounds in northerly forests , especially when warn intruders or marauder .
Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
The Northern Flying Squirrel is a nocturnal and seldom project occupier of Michigan ’s northerly forests . Unlike lawful flight of steps , these squirrels glide graciously between trees using a flap of skin call off the patagium , which stretches from their carpus to their ankles . They have soft , grayish - brown fur , a flat empennage , and bombastic , coloured eyes adapted for excellent dark vision . grownup typically measure about 10 to 12 inches long and weigh only 3 to 5 ounces .
This species in the main inhabits matured cone-bearing and mixed forests in the northerly Lower Peninsula and throughout the Upper Peninsula of Michigan . They favour old - growth stand with plenty of tree bodily cavity , snags , and slow canopies that facilitate gliding . They are exceedingly elusive and are seldom seen during daylight hours , which makes studying their population curve a challenge . Nesting occurs in tree diagram trap or abandoned pecker nests , often lined with moss and lichen .
northerly Flying Squirrels feed on a multifariousness of foods , include crackpot , seed , fruit , lichens , fungi , and louse . They are specially crucial for their role in dispersing fungal spores — particularly mycorrhizal fungi , which are all-important to afforest health . Despite being hushed and secretive , they are societal animals and may nest communally in colder calendar month for passion . Their presence in an domain is often only detect through specialized nighttime sight or the find of gliding tracks in snow .
Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans)
The Southern Flying Squirrel is a small , nocturnal glider that resembles its northerly cousin but is slightly modest in sizing and more common in southern Michigan . With soft , gray - brown fur , a white underbelly , and large dark eyes , this metal money is dead adjust to life in the treetops . Like the Northern Flying Squirrel , it uses a hide membrane called the patagium to glide silently between trees , allow it to travel long distances in search of food or mates .
In Michigan , Southern Flying Squirrels are find mostly in the southerly Lower Peninsula , where they privilege deciduous forests copious in hardwood like oak tree , hickory , and beech tree . These environments extend ample food for thought imagination and natural enclosed space for nesting . They are rarely seen due to their strictly nocturnal habit , but their front may be discover by recover their nest in tree hollows or by using trail cameras and night surveys .
Their diet is diverse and includes fruitcake , seed , berry , fungi , and insects . They are particularly fond of acorns and may cache solid food for winter use . Although they are placid by nature , Southern Flying Squirrels transmit using high - pitched vocalizations and fragrance . During dusty month , they often huddle together in partake in nest to stay warm . Their role in source dispersal and forest ecology make them important despite their secretive nature .
Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
The Eastern Chipmunk is a humble , diurnal priming squirrel easily recognise by its ruddy - brownish pelt and five dark stripes running down its back . It has prominent cheek pouches used for carry solid food and is often seen darting along forest floors or skitter up logs and rock music . big chipmunks grow to about 8 to 10 inches long , including their tail , and librate between 2.5 to 5 ounces .
These chipmunk are far-flung throughout both peninsulas of Michigan and are common in woodlands , Park , gardens , and suburban yards . They travail extensive burrow systems with multiple entrances , computer storage chambers , and sleep country . participating during the 24-hour interval , they spend their meter foraging and collecting intellectual nourishment such as nuts , seminal fluid , fruits , insects , and even pocket-sized amphibians .
Eastern Chipmunks are solitary creatures and ferociously fight their territory , especially around tunnel entrances . They phonate with high - pitched micro chip and trills when alarmed or communication . In the fall , they prepare for winter by gathering and store food underground . Unlike some squirrels , they do n’t hole up continuously but get into periods of torpor , inflame occasionally to eat from their cache . Their magical behavior and profile make them a familiar presence in Michigan ’s rude and urban landscapes .
Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus)
The Least Chipmunk is the smallest of Michigan ’s chipmunks , measuring only 7 to 8 inches in total duration , including a slender tail . It has a more delicate figure compare to the Eastern Chipmunk , with lighter pelt and five narrow , sour stripes on its back and face . Despite its belittled size of it , it is a extremely active and nimble creature , often seen scurrying among rock and brush .
This species is found in the first place in the Upper Peninsula and prefers open cone-bearing forests , shrublands , and rocky field . It is less common than its eastern counterpart and tend to inhabit more remote , undisturbed environments . Like other chipmunks , it create hugger-mugger burrows but may also shelter in hollow log or under brush piles . It is diurnal and spends much of the day foraging .
The Least Chipmunk has a varied diet that include seeds , berries , insect , and fungi . It stores food in cheek pouches to carry back to its burrow for later use of goods and services . During the winter , it enters a state of torpor but periodically aftermath to feed . This species is known for its fast apparent movement and rattling nature , make it difficult to spy in the wilderness . Its presence is more likely to be noticed in still northern habitats where it stay on an problematical but important member of the forest ecosystem .
Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus)
The Thirteen - lined Ground Squirrel is easily identified by the thirteen alternate light and non-white chevron running longways down its back and side . This small , slender ground squirrel turn to about 9 to 12 in in duration and has a short hindquarters . It is a land - dwelling metal money that seldom climb and is most fighting on sunny days during the warmer month .
In Michigan , this species is more prevalent in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula , where it inhabits undecided grasslands , prairies , cut down lawns , and wayside . It prefer wry , well - debilitate soils for drudge its tunnel system , which can gallop several foot underground . These squirrels are solitary and extremely territorial , with individual tunnel used for nesting , food entrepot , and hibernation .
Thirteen - run along Ground Squirrels feed on seeds , grains , insects , and once in a while modest craniate . They are specially known for their appetite for grasshoppers and mallet , relieve oneself them helpful in assure pest populations . This species hibernates during winter , entering a bass eternal sleep that lasts from former drop until early spring . Their lively stance — often check stand upright to scan for predatory animal — makes them a familiar mess in open landscapes during the summer months .
Woodchuck or Groundhog (Marmota monax)
The Woodchuck , also know as the Groundhog , is the largest member of the squirrel menage launch in Michigan . Adults can weigh between 5 to 14 pound sign and grow up to 25 inches in length . They have coarse chocolate-brown fur , short legs , and hard claws adapt for digging . Their compact build and coggle pace make them easy to distinguish from other local rodent .
Woodchucks are common throughout both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan and are oftentimes found in candid fields , pastures , meadow , and along the sharpness of woodlands . They are splendid shovel and construct extensive burrow systems with multiple entrances , which serve as tax shelter , nesting region , and protection from predators . These burrows can be obtain near rock piles , fencing lines , or even under decks and sheds in suburban areas .
mainly herbivorous , Woodchucks feed on a wide variety of vegetation , include grasses , trefoil , dandelions , and crops such as Indian corn and soybeans . They are solitary animals and are most participating during the former morning and previous good afternoon . In preparation for wintertime , they collect juicy reserves and hibernate from later spill until former spring . Marmota monax are perhaps well screw for their connection with Groundhog Day , a folklore custom that adds a impulsive touch to their otherwise secretive life style .
