Habitat patch use, density, and territoriality of American Red Squirrels (<i>Tamiasciurus hudsonicus</i>) in the southwestern Rocky Mountains, Colorado

Abstract

American Red Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) inhabit patches of conifer trees, relying upon the cones for food. They stockpile cones in middens, which are large piles of cones at the base of trees, and exhibit territorial behavior (alarm and warning calls) to protect their midden from squirrels and other mammals. Midden presence is an indicator of squirrel presence and can be used to predict squirrel population sizes within a patch of conifers, because each squirrel relies on the stockpile of cones in their middens to survive the winter. Previous studies have shown that Red Squirrels select conifer tree patches to occupy based on size, shape, and quality of tree availability. I investigated three questions related to the relationship between habitat patches and squirrel presence: 1) Is there a minimum patch size that squirrels will occupy? 2) Does squirrel density vary with patch size? 3) Does squirrel territoriality vary with patch shape or squirrel density? I searched nineteen patches of conifers of a range of sizes for middens, and observed 11 patches to note individual territorial behavior. I found that: 1) the smallest patch that a squirrel will occupy is 0.75 hectares in area, 2) more abandoned middens were found in smaller patches, indicating higher transience for squirrel occupation, 3) midden density did not vary with tree density or patch size. For the study on patch shape, I found fewer active middens in strip shaped patches, where there were also fewer territorial calls during observation periods, possibly explained by fewer neighbors and fewer territorial boundaries.

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