If you’ve ever seen a squirrel scampering around your backyard or local park, you may have wondered: how exactly do these furry critters get water? It’s a great question, because if you take a closer look, squirrels don’t have the typical lips or cheeks that allow many mammals to suck water up directly.
Luckily, squirrels have adapted some clever ways to hydrate themselves using their paws, teeth, and tongue.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: Squirrels lap up water with their tongue or use their paws to carry water to their mouth. Their front teeth also help draw water up that they can then swallow.
Squirrels Lap Up Water with Their Tongue
Tongue Acts Like a Ladle
Squirrels have a remarkable ability to lap up water using their tongues. Their tongues function similarly to a ladle, scooping up water and bringing it to their mouths. When a squirrel wants to drink, it will lower its head to the water source and quickly lap the surface.
With each lap, the squirrel curls its tongue backwards, forming a spoon-like shape to collect the water. As the tongue unfurls, the water is brought up to the mouth where it can be swallowed. This lapping motion is extremely fast and allows squirrels to take up water efficiently.
A squirrel’s tongue is uniquely suited for lapping. It has a rough texture that helps collect droplets of water through capillary action. The underside of the tongue also has grooves that serve as reservoirs to hold the water.
According to a 2019 study, squirrels can lap up to 10 times per second, taking in over 1 milliliter of water per lap. This is quite impressive considering their small size!
Lapping Allows Precise Control
The lapping method gives squirrels precise control over water intake. Laps are timed carefully to optimize the water collected per lick. Research has found that squirrels will adjust their lapping frequency based on factors like the water’s surface tension.
For example, they will lap faster on surfaces with higher tension to counteract the adhesion force. This adaptability ensures an optimal water intake rate regardless of the water source.
Lap-drinking also minimizes water waste compared to sucking water up through clenched teeth. With lapping, squirrels take up only the amount needed with each curl of the tongue. There is no excess water spilled or lost. This efficiency is important for survival, especially in dry environments.
It allows squirrels to utilize whatever limited water sources are available such as morning dew or rainwater collected in tree hollows.
The precision of the squirrel’s lapping technique is quite amazing. Their tongues act like tiny, highly accurate ladles delivering water right to the mouth. This remarkable ability to lap up water has served the squirrel well, allowing it to thrive in environments all around the world.
Squirrels Use Their Paws to Drink
Squirrels have some clever tricks up their furry sleeves when it comes to getting a drink of water. As tree-dwelling creatures, they don’t always have easy access to ground sources of water like puddles or streams. So how do these bushy-tailed acrobats stay hydrated?
Scooping Water in Cupped Paws
One of the main ways squirrels drink is by cupping their paws and scooping up water. They’ll dip their paws into bird baths, pooled rainwater on tree branches, or other small sources of water. Then they quickly slurp the liquid from their cupped paws before it spills.
Squirrels have adapted some helpful features to make this paw-scooping method work:
- Their front paws are highly dexterous, allowing them to dip and scoop.
- They have rough pads on their paws that can grip slippery surfaces.
- Their paws fold into a cup shape when curled.
Squirrels also have a fast lapping motion with their tongue that lets them quickly lap water from their paws without wasting a drop. This paw-to-mouth drinking style is quite efficient!
Climbing Down to Ground Level Sources
When tree squirrels need more than just a few pawfuls to drink, they head down to ground level sources. Favorites like puddles, bird baths, ponds, and streams provide abundant drinking water.
With their supreme climbing skills, squirrels easily scamper down tree trunks and access these ground water supplies. Their sharp claws provide excellent grip on the bark. And their sturdy back legs propel them in huge leaps and bounds from branch to branch.
Some interesting facts about ground level drinking:
- Squirrels may make daily trips to water sources, especially in hot or dry weather when their needs are greater.
- They often have regular “watering holes” that they frequent.
- Squirrels keep a lookout for predators like hawks or cats when drinking on the ground.
- They drink by lapping surface water directly with their tongue.
So next time you see a squirrel sidling down a tree trunk or lapping at a puddle, you’ll know it’s heading off to quench its thirst! Squirrels’ amazing adaptability lets them take advantage of any water source they encounter.
Their Front Teeth Help Draw Up Water
Teeth Act Like Built-In Straws
Squirrels have specialized front teeth that allow them to draw water up into their mouths, similar to how we use straws. Their incisors are curved backwards and have a groove on the inside surface. When a squirrel dips its teeth into water, the groove helps channel the liquid up towards their mouth.
Capillary action allows the water to cling to the groove and be lifted upwards. It’s an ingenious built-in tool that enables squirrels to hydrate themselves without having to suck up water directly.
Studies have shown that squirrels can raise water levels by up to 5 centimeters using just their teeth as makeshift straws. Their enamel is also very hard and durable, so their teeth don’t get damaged by repeated exposure to water.
Evolution has shaped squirrels to take advantage of physics and surface tension in this clever way. Next time you see a squirrel sipping at a bird bath or puddle, take a closer look at how its front teeth skim the surface and pull water right into its mouth!
Surface Tension Allows Water to Cling
Another factor that helps squirrels draw water into their mouths is surface tension. Water molecules like to stick together and form a sort of “skin” at the surface of ponds, puddles, and other bodies of water.
This surface tension allows the water to cling to the grooves in squirrels’ teeth as they dip them in and lift upwards. The water clings together in a condensed column along the teeth’s grooves rather than breaking apart and falling away.
Researchers found that squirrels can exploit surface tension to lift water about 5-6 millimeters before it breaks off. They then quickly dip their teeth back in for another “sip.” The amount of water held together by surface tension increases based on factors like the size of the groove on their teeth.
Squirrels have perfected this groove structure over evolutionary time to maximize how much water adheres each time they take a drink. So next time you see a squirrel hydrating, marvel at how it cleverly uses the physical forces of surface tension and adhesion!
Additional Strategies for Accessing Water
Finding Dew on Plants
Squirrels are quite resourceful when it comes to finding water sources. One strategy they use is licking dew drops off of leaves and blades of grass in the early morning. The dew that accumulates overnight provides a refreshing drink that squirrels take advantage of first thing in the morning.
Studies have shown that squirrels will purposefully go to areas with plenty of vegetation in the early morning to lap up the dew. The water from dew can provide up to 10% of a squirrel’s daily water intake.
This easy water source helps squirrels stay hydrated, especially during hot, dry periods where fresh water is scarce.
Eating Juicy Fruits and Vegetables
Another way squirrels get water is by eating juicy fruits and vegetables. Some of their favorites include oranges, melons, tomatoes, apples and berries. The high water content in these fruits provides hydration in addition to important vitamins and minerals.
Researchers have discovered that when resources are scarce, squirrels will prioritize foods like oranges and melons over foods like acorns and seeds. The juicy fruits allow them to replenish their bodies with much needed water and energy.
Getting Water from Food
In addition to juicy fruits and veggies, squirrels are able to get water from many other foods they eat. Seeds, nuts, fungi, eggs, and even insects contain water that contributes to a squirrel’s overall hydration.
Acorns, for example, can contain over 50% water by weight. Fungi like mushrooms also have high moisture content. By consuming a diverse diet, squirrels are able to get water from multiple food sources. This helps them survive in periods of drought when fresh water is limited.
Conclusion
In conclusion, squirrels have adapted some clever ways to stay hydrated without direct lips-to-water contact. Their agile tongue, nimble paws, specialized teeth and resourceful water-seeking behaviors allow them to lap, scoop, draw up and access water from many sources.
Next time you see a squirrel, take a moment to admire their ingenious methods for getting a drink!