How Do Squirrels Get Water?
Are you curious about squirrel water intake? Yes, like other living organisms, they also need water for their bodily functions. And if you are thinking about How Do Squirrels Get Water? Don’t worry, I will tell you about this mystery. You often watched them eating food but never watched a squirrel drinking water.
Let me tell you, these tiny creatures have very little water requirements, and most of it is fulfilled by their diet. The moisture in vegetables, fruits, and fungi they eat provides a significant amount of water, which fulfills their daily intake. They fulfill their remaining water requirement by drinking rainwater, fresh water, dew drops, or melting snow. There are multiple options available for them to get their required water.
Summary
Squirrels need a very small amount of water, and they fulfill the major proportion of their water requirement with their food, which includes leafy vegetables, juicy fruits, and nuts. They also drink water from natural sources like rivers, ponds, streams, rain, and dew drops.
They rarely need extra water in summer, during pregnancy, or when they are stressed. In these conditions, their body needs more water than usual. They get this water from natural sources or from water you provide them for drinking.
Where Do Squirrels Get Water?
Squirrels get their required water from their diet and environment. There are multiple ways in which squirrels get water.
Diet
Squirrels mostly eat fruits, vegetables, and fungi; these carry a huge proportion of water. As you know, squirrels do not need a lot of water to quench their thirst or for bodily functions. So their basic requirement of water intake is fulfilled through diet. In summer, there is more water intake required for the squirrels. But again, their summer diet of juicy fruits like berries fulfills the requirement.
Squirrels store their food under the ground for future consumption. Mostly, the stored food is wild and seeds, which frequently absorb water from the ground. When squirrels eat them, they get plenty of water along with the food.
Natural Water
There are a lot of freshwater sources around the globe, and squirrels are mostly found residing near the water sources. Whenever they feel thirsty, they easily access the natural water from rivers, lakes, streams, and ponds.
Dew Drops
Squirrels spend most of their time in the trees or the grass. They love to be in the greenery all the time. They get water from the dew drops on the leaves and grass, in the early morning. This dew drops licking easily quench their thirst, due to small water requirements.
Rain Water
Rainwater is also a main natural water source for squirrels. They enjoy the rain and drink rainwater. Usually, they come out from their hiding places after the rain stops and lick the rainwater droplets on the leaves, grass, or any other surfaces.
Peanut Butter is a good source of minerals and vitamins for squirrels when consumed in moderate quantities.
Stored Water
If you store water in any open source then squirrels can be your guests for drinking water. Your water tanks, tubs, and other storages are in access to the squirrels. If these are not covered, squirrels can easily access and drink water.
An interesting thing about squirrels is that some of their species chew the tree bark. This chewing creates openings where tree sap collects. Squirrels drink this sap to quench their thirst. They are not only fast but also intelligent tiny friends.
Melting Snow Water
Water intake is a challenge in colder areas where there is a lot of snow and less availability of water. Squirrels go under the snow by digging and getting the water present under the snow. This melted water can escape from the human eye, not from squirrels.
Should I Put Water Out For Squirrels?
Squirrels fulfill almost all of their water requirements from natural methods. They do not rely on bird feeders or human provided water sources. But if you notice that the weather is dry or hot or there is no natural water source near you. Then, always put water for squirrels and birds to quench their thirst. In some conditions, they are reliant on human-provided water sources.
Squirrels need approximately 45 ml of water per day, and this requirement may increase during pregnancy. So always act as a helping hand and provide them water or juicy fruits to fulfill their body requirement.
How Do Squirrels Drink Water?
Are you curious about the drinking mechanism of squirrels? That’s fine, everyone wants to know how these tiny creatures drink water to fulfill their body needs. Squirrels drink water in three different ways.
Drinking Water With Paws
Squirrels can detect the danger more precisely, and they act accordingly. If the water source is at a risky place and they feel any danger of falling or slipping. They use their paws to take water to their mouths. They carefully lean down and put their front paws in water. After that they pull them back and lick the paws to get water.
Drinking Water With Tongue
Squirrels ‘ drinking mechanism totally depends on their tongue. It is the main part that helps them drink water directly. This drinking mechanism of squirrels is similar to dogs. Squirrels put their tongue into the water and take water in their mouth through their tongue. In this way, squirrels fulfill their water requirements in multiple laps.
Drinking Water With Mouth Dipping
You can place water in shallow dishes for squirrels. They reach the water source and then put their mouth and take water with their tongue. Or they can dip their mouth in water and drink directly from the dish.
If you are thinking about How squirrels drink water in summer? Then, to relax, there is no change in their drinking mechanism. They drink water in the same way, either in winter or summer. They have nothing to do with the weather, although their consumption increases or decreases according to weather conditions.
What Do Squirrels Drink?
What squirrels drink totally depends on the habitat in which they are living. In wildlife, squirrels mostly drink water, and the juicy fruits and nuts fulfill a major proportion of their thirst. But in urban areas squirrels drink different types of liquids as per their developed taste. Mostly, I saw them drinking water, alcohol, carbonated beverages, and juices. If they do not find anything to drink, they manage it with the water in the bird feeders.
Squirrels are very intelligent and smart wild mammals with sharp teeth. They eat bread very quickly; it doesn’t matter if it’s simple bread, brown bread, or bread with peanut butter.
Do Squirrels Like Water?
It doesn’t matter whether they like water or not; they need it for their survival. Water is the basic need of squirrels to quench their thirst. They like it to such an extent that it fulfills their requirements. Mostly, they get their water requirements filled through their food.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you get all your answers about “How Do Squirrels Get Water?”. I have tried my best to elaborate on all the aspects, which includes my personal experience with the squirrels. I usually observe them while sitting in my garden and notice their different ways of drinking water, as mentioned in the blog.
