In the world of the Yukon’s red squirrels, being a man is all about your woodland real estate. A new study published in Ecology Letter looking at the territory’s North American red squirrels found that young males, who move into the empty nests of a successful squirrel, would have 50 per cent more pups than other red squirrels. The study’s lead author David Fisher, a former University of Guelph postdoctoral researcher, says what’s most interesting about North American red squirrels is that they are the only squirrels that store food this way. Researchers believe red squirrels store their food like this because of the Yukon’s harsh winters and because red squirrels don’t hibernate during winter. This new study is part of an ongoing research project by the Kluane Red Squirrel Project that started collecting information on North American red squirrels in the Yukon in 1987.

Source: National Post February 14, 2019 23:48 UTC