Squirrel : How a Backyard Forager Shapes Our World

Love them or hatethem-what if squirrels are actually the key to understanding our planet's future?

Squirrels are a common sight, seemingly everywhere in wild and urban nature. Their chattering antics in city parks delight us while their raids on our backyard gardens and bird feedersnever failto exasperate. But squirrels are more than amusing backyard entertainers, and few of usknow much about them or fullyappreciate their role in keeping the environment healthy. As stress on the natural world intensifies,should we be paying more attention to the plight of squirrels? In Squirrel, Nancy Castaldo shines new light on thisfamiliar backyard mammal, exploring their staggering diversity(they're found on all continents but Antarctica) and the many surprising ways they shape our world, our communities, and our cultures. Each chapter explores anaspect ofsquirrels and their close and sometimes fraught association with humans: their importance to myriad ecosystems through sophisticated food-caching strategies; their introduction tonineteenth-century urban parks as adorable ambassadors for nature; their complicated global status as both invasive and endangered; their role as celebrated cultural icons and social media memes; andultimately, why we must preventpopulation declines and protecttheir well-beingwhile we can. Like other wildlife species, squirrels areincreasinglystressed by climate change, and their speculative fate may foreshadow our own. Thebook includes a detailed bibliography, an exhaustive list ofsquirrel species and their status, and tips for coexisting peaceably with squirrels in ouryards and neighborhoods. Chapters are introduced by exquisitely drawnhistorical illustrations.