June 2011 - Cristina Berselli Nature Photography

Squirrel - M4471
(Sciurus vulgaris)
Lombardia, Italy - June 2011
70-300mm
[2]

Stock for the winter: The squirrel is an arboreal animal, skillful jumping, and so tied to the sylvan environment. It feeds on nuts, acorns, mushrooms and fruit, which is conspicuous stocks during the summer, storing them well hidden in the cupboards, and then to draw from in times of scarcity (except forget, thus collaborating in the dissemination of plants).
The Italian populations of Sciurus vulgaris (and European in general) are highly threatened by the uncontrolled spread of a species introduced by humans (allochthonous) in the past century, the American Sciurus carolinensis (gray squirrel), which possessed a higher reproductive rate and greater adaptability (in other words, a greater biological suitability or fitness) is quickly replacing the farmyard where the two species come into contact. In Italy what is happening in Piemonte and Liguria, where the depletion of the red species is now a fact. A program to eradicate this species proposed by ecologists, has been opposed by environmentalists.

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