It is hard to guess what a American red squirrel weights. But we have the answer:
An adult American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) on average weights 200 grams (0.44 lbs).
The American red squirrel is from the family Sciuridae (genus: Tamiasciurus). It is usually born with about 6 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 12 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 18.8 cm (0′ 8″). On average, American red squirrels can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 4.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus Tamiasciurus, known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, T. douglasii, and Mearns’s squirrel, T. mearnsi). The American red squirrel is variously known as the pine squirrel, North American red squirrel and chickaree. It is also referred to as Hudson’s Bay squirrel, as in John James Audubon’s work The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (hence the species name). The squirrel is a small, 200–250 g (7.1–8.8 oz), diurnal mammal that defends a year-round exclusive territory. It feeds primarily on the seeds of conifer cones, and is widely distributed across North America wherever conifers are common, except on the Pacific coast, where its cousin, the Douglas squirrel, is found instead. The American red squirrel is not found on most of the Great Plains or in the southeastern United States, as conifer trees are not common in those areas. The squirrel has been expanding its range into hardwood forests.
Animals of the same family as a American red squirrel
We found other animals of the Sciuridae family:
- Sierra Madre ground squirrel with a weight of 207 grams
- Epixerus ebii wilsoni with a weight of 422 grams
- Menzbier’s marmot with a size of 45 cm (1′ 6″)
- Siberian chipmunk with a weight of 94 grams
- Indian palm squirrel with a weight of 136 grams
- Bobak marmot with 6 babies per litter
- Japanese squirrel with a weight of 264 grams
- Swynnerton’s bush squirrel with a weight of 675 grams
- African pygmy squirrel with a weight of 16 grams
- Speckled ground squirrel with a weight of 252 grams
Animals with the same weight as a American red squirrel
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Tamiasciurus hudsonicus:
- Striped bush squirrel bringing 160 grams to the scale
- Lundomys bringing 238 grams to the scale
- Fossorial giant rat bringing 168 grams to the scale
- Bonetto’s tuco-tuco bringing 202 grams to the scale
- Arizona woodrat bringing 200 grams to the scale
- Ruddy treeshrew bringing 168 grams to the scale
- Large mosaic-tailed rat bringing 210 grams to the scale
- Mira climbing rat bringing 184 grams to the scale
- Echigo mole bringing 163 grams to the scale
- Spectral tarsier bringing 166 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a American red squirrel
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as American red squirrel:
- Dusky bushbaby with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Long-tailed mountain rat with a size of 15.9 cm (0′ 7″)
- Palawan montane squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Indian hedgehog with a size of 18 cm (0′ 8″)
- Culion tree squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Richmond’s squirrel with a size of 19.4 cm (0′ 8″)
- Reddish tuco-tuco with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Kowari with a size of 15.8 cm (0′ 7″)
- Mindanao hairy-tailed rat with a size of 17.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- Southern Plains woodrat with a size of 21.3 cm (0′ 9″)
Animals with the same litter size as a American red squirrel
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a American red squirrel:
- Beaded wood mouse
- Red squirrel
- Hairy-tailed mole
- European water vole
- Giant kangaroo rat
- Little pocket mouse
- Hazel dormouse
- Botta’s pocket gopher
- Pygmy gerbil
- Pousargues’s mongoose
Animals with the same life expectancy as a American red squirrel
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a American red squirrel:
- Crab-eating raccoon with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Parti-coloured bat with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Common bent-wing bat with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Chinese ferret-badger with an average maximal age of 10.5 years
- Maned sloth with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Lesser hedgehog tenrec with an average maximal age of 13 years
- Malagasy civet with an average maximal age of 11 years
- Yellow-footed rock-wallaby with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Spectral tarsier with an average maximal age of 12 years
- California leaf-nosed bat with an average maximal age of 10.33 years