Red squirrels spend most of their lives in the trees. Their sharp claws grip bark easily, and their long tail acts like a balancing pole when they jump. They can leap more than two metres from branch to branch, which is impressive for an animal not much bigger than your hand.
Squirrels eat nuts, seeds, berries, and fungi. In autumn, they bury hundreds of nuts in the ground to eat during winter when food is scarce. Scientists have found that squirrels remember where most of their caches are using landmarks — they are much smarter than they might look.
A red squirrel builds a nest called a drey, high in the branches. The drey is a dome of twigs lined with soft moss, leaves, and fur. From the outside it looks like a pile of sticks, but inside it is warm and snug. Squirrels may have several dreys and move between them.
In Belgium, red squirrels are doing well in the Ardennes forests and in many parks. They are recognisable by their ear tufts — little pointed tufts of fur on the tips of their ears that are especially long in winter. No two squirrels have exactly the same shade of red fur.