Some time ago we considered some of the squirrels, including the ground and flying species, but we don't want to overlook the unusual Kaibab squirrels. These live on the bluffs overlooking the Grand Canyon of Arizona.
The Kaibabs, or tassel-eared squirrels, have some features and habits quite different from those in other parts of North America. Their unusually long hair provides pretty coloring and warmth. Their faces and ears are black, speckled with white, and they have a deep-red band running the length of their brown backs and almost pure-white tails.
These squirrels have been called “prisoners of geography.” This is because the areas surrounding them for miles are mostly desert, and the deep Grand Canyon, with the Colorado River running through it, all form natural boundaries that keep them in an area from which they cannot escape, nor can other squirrels come to join them. But the Creator had His own purpose in keeping them separate and has well provided for their every need.
There are an estimated 20,000 Kaibab squirrels, making their homes in the pretty pine forests growing on the northern rim of the canyon, high above the river. Visitors enjoy watching them scramble about the trees and tall grass.
Their diet includes twigs, pinecone seeds, mushrooms, toadstools and other fungi, as well as plants and other seeds. Someone watching closely estimated that one squirrel alone seemed to eat about a thousand pinecone seeds (which are very small) in one day.
These particular squirrels don't store food for winter as most other squirrels do, but during the winter months they find nourishment in chewing the tender ends of new growth on pine tree branches. Another reliable winter food for them is a fungus that grows on the roots of the trees and is easily found when a squirrel scrapes away the ever-present layer of fallen leaves and pine needles. This fungus satisfies their hunger with its good taste and rich nourishment.
The Creator has wisely provided these little animals with an instinct to move to a different territory every year or so; thus a region that has fed great numbers of them is given time to renew its particular section of forest.
Thousands of visitors go to the Grand Canyon every season, and those touring the north rim find much pleasure in discovering the pretty pine trees sheltering such great numbers of these cute little squirrels. We hope many of the visitors realize that, besides the magnificent Grand Canyon, the little Kaibab squirrels living there are another example of the wonders of God's creation!
ML-09/21/2008