What To Feed Squirrels: The Ultimate Guide For Gardeners

Wondering what to feed squirrels? Not sure if you should?  Good news! Our comprehensive guide tells you everything you need to know. You will learn what food squirrels like the most and discover what the experts recommend. We’ll touch on the pros and cons of feeding squirrels, so you can make an informed decision.

Do you enjoy watching squirrels jump and play through the trees in your yard? There is no doubt about it, they are a lot of fun to watch. One of the best ways to attract these mischievous creatures to your yard is to offer them food. Squirrels are not picky eaters and will eagerly try almost anything you offer. Still you maybe wondering what food you can safely put out.

In a Hurry?

The very best food to offer squirrels is

1. Nuts in their shells (avoid peanuts)!
2. Hickory nuts
3. Walnuts
4. Hazelnuts
5. White oak acorns
6. Green pinecones
7. Small chunks of fruit (non citrus)
8. Small bites of fresh vegetables
9. Pumpkin seed

This guide is designed to answer all your questions about what to feed squirrels in your backyard. We’ll also tell you what to avoid, as there are some foods that could cause more harm than good. Finally, we will dive into the controversy about feeding or not feeding squirrels.

So, let’s get down to business. Use the table of contents to jump directly to the sections that interest you.

What Food Can I Put Out for Squirrels?

In most cases, people choose to feed squirrels corn and peanuts. Unfortunately, neither of these foods are considered that ideal for squirrel health. They might be perfect for birds, but generally fail to deliver an actual nutritional benefit. Squirrels do love them though, so think of them as treats or junk food. Okay in small quantities and when combined with a more varied diet.

So, what is the ideal food for squirrels? Quite simply, it is unshelled nuts! Experts studying the needs of squirrels recommend that you include the following

• hickory
• hazelnuts
• pecans
• walnuts
• white oak acorns
• Scotch pine cones
• Norway spruce
• Lodgepole pine cones
• Western hemlock cones
• Douglas fir cones
• Pumpkin seeds (technically not a nut, but it fits here)

These make for the absolute best squirrel diet. These nuts are expensive to buy, however you could go foraging if you are lucky enough to live in a place where these things grow naturally. Go out and collect a sack. Alternatively, consider planting some of these nut/cone bearing plants in your garden. Then the squirrels can do their own foraging.

So, why do squirrels need nuts in their shells? They belong to the rodent family and their teeth grow continuously. Gnawing keeps their teeth worn down and is essential to healthy teeth. I don’t know about you, but I would rather they gnawed on a nut and spared my house!

What Do Squirrels Like to Eat the Most?

You may have thought that squirrels only consume nuts and seeds. Believe it or not, they are omnivores. This means they feed on both plant and animal-based material. For instance, the Eastern Gray Squirrel is well-known to feed on amphibians, insects, baby birds, bird eggs, small mammals, and even bones.

Perhaps unsurprisingly though, most of their diet is comprised of plants. In an environment without any human interference, squirrels can enjoy seeds, nuts, tree buds, and tree flowers from a variety of trees such as cedar, butternut, spruce, pine, mulberry, maple, hickory, hemlock, hackberry, elm, and dogwood. Additionally, they even snack on fungi and mushrooms now and then.

When squirrels and humans interact, some food enters their diet – and some of this is quite great for them and extracted from natural sources. Although other favorites are not that natural, the squirrels still love them.

It may surprise you to know that squirrels will eat any fresh fruit and vegetables they can get their paws on! Scientists recommend the following

• Apples
• Grapes
• Watermelon + seeds
• Berries
• Yam, raw
• Carrots + leafy tops
• Celery tops
• Peas
• Greens (collards, dandelion, mustard greens)
• Broccoli
• Mushrooms

They seem to prefer non- citrus fruit and bananas should be avoided as they contain too much fruit sugar.

Squirrels also love processed peanuts, although you should limit the quantities as it does not have much nutritional value for them. This would include natural peanut butter and roasted peanuts.

By and large the best recommendation is to look at the nuts, fruits and vegetables that grow in your area and try to offer those. The very best food for squirrels is the nuts, fruits, and vegetables they would eat in the wild. Simulating the squirrel’s natural diet is the best way to make sure they stay healthy.

What Should You Not Feed Squirrels?

Most importantly if you are going to feed squirrels, you need to ensure that the food you provide is not harmful. The two major problems to avoid.

• Providing foods that are harmful.
• Offering foods that have minimal to no nutritional value.

Finding this post helpful? See all our wildlife and animal posts.

Below is a list of some foods to avoid:

Junk food: Particularly salted and sugared snacks. Much like in humans, they’re fillers and contain minimal nutritional value. The kidneys in squirrels are not able to handle the amount of salt in human junk food. We just need to avoid giving it to them.

Bread: This is another one to avoid. Most breads contain added sugar, but more importantly the squirrels are not able to digest the large quantities of cellulose present in bread.

Peanuts: This might be a surprise to many, considering that rodents love peanuts. Squirrels really enjoy this snack but they are lacking the nutrients squirrels need. Too many can lead to poor health. You can offer them occasionally as a treat but check peanut shells to make sure there is no mold. The mold found on peanut shells is toxic for squirrels.

Corn: Ensure this is always in small amounts because squirrels tend to overeat it. Ensure that the corn is ready to eat before feeding because it turns sour fast and even grows mold.

Breakfast cereals: Many breakfast cereals contain high concentrations of cellulose and squirrels are unable to digest much of this. It can cause intestinal distress and they won’t get any nutritional value from it. It can easily result in severe malnutrition.

Pet food: Your pet food is formulated for your pet and not for squirrels. The high meat content can even be harmful as the squirrel’s body cannot handle it.

Sunflower Seeds: As squirrels tend to raid bird feeders you might assume that sunflower seeds would be a good thing to feed squirrels. Not so! Scientists have discovered that sunflower seeds contain a substance that stops the absorption of calcium. If you squirrels fill up on sunflower seeds, they do not get the correct amounts of calcium needed to maintain healthy bones.

What Do Baby Squirrels Eat?

In the wild, a baby squirrel feeds exclusively on its mother’s milk. After that time it is weaned and starts to eat the same food as adults.

It is possible that you may find yourself faced with the prospect of raising an orphaned squirrel pup. The best course of action is to contact a wildlife rehabilitation center. They know how and what to feed baby squirrels. They also know how to prepare the baby squirrel to be released back into the wild.

If you do not have access to one of these sanctuaries, you can take on the herculean task of raising the baby yourself. A combination of Pedialyte and Esbilac or Milk Matrix 33/40 by will provide all the nutrition needs of the baby squirrel. Both of these are available at pet stores.

Raising a baby squirrel is a time consuming and fairly difficult task. The feeding schedule is exacting and must be followed carefully. If you decide to take this on, you can find all the details in this comprehensive guide or this article about the nutritional needs of squirrels.

Don’t be too quick to assume a baby has been orphaned. If it is obviously dehydrated and starving you can move in. If it looks healthy then wait. Monitor the pup from afar, so that you do not scare away the mother. There are many reasons why the baby may have been left for a while.

Squirrels are only active during the day. So, if the mother has not returned by the time it gets dark you can safely assume the baby has been orphaned.

What Do You Feed Squirrels in the Winter?

Squirrels do not truly hibernate in the winter, but they do sleep a lot to conserve energy. They are often active for only several hours a day during winter. So they only have a short time to get all the food they require. Natural food sources are scarce at this time of year. So, it is an excellent idea to offer them a helping hand.

Squirrels will often store food in various places within their habitat just before winter arrives, and they will get back to these caches when the winter months arrive. They may not be able to find all of these caches though. Quite frankly, providing squirrels with additional food won’t hurt them.

Any of the foods mentioned earlier will suffice. However, at this time of year the squirrels need sources of high fat food to help them withstand the colder temperatures. The best source of these fats are nuts that are high in fat such as walnuts.

And if you can, establish feeding points at multiple places within your garden to ensure that the squirrels avoid each other. A special squirrel feeder will also encourage the squirrels to stay away from your bird feeders.

Should I Feed Squirrels?

There is quite a controversy over this issue, with both side arguing their cases vigorously. We’ll give you the arguments for and against, so you can decide what is best for your family.

Squirrel Feeders Act As A Decoy: Squirrels are opportunists and are constantly looking for food to survive. This means that they will raid your bird feeders. Not only does this take the food away from the birds, but the seed-based feed is not the most ideal food for squirrels. You can deter them by setting up a separate feeding station that only they can access.

The Arguments For Feeding Squirrels

Squirrels Play An Important Part in Our Ecosystem: They play an important part in our ecosystem. Sometimes called natures’ gardeners the squirrel’s habit of caching food helps with the dispersal of trees and nut bearing bushes. Although they eat a lot of plant-based foods, squirrels also catch and eat small animals such as insects and caterpillars. This can be beneficial to the gardener!

The Benefits of Bringing Wildlife Into The Yard: Researchers from Millikin University surveyed  just under 3000 people to find out why they fed birds. Here are the top 5 main benefits responders listed.

• A desire to bring nature and beauty to their yard.
• Wanting to help the birds.
• It provides a relaxing hobby.
• Helps people with bird identification and gives the opportunity to observe behaviour.
• Offers educational experiences for children.

Feeding squirrels offers the same benefits. So, perhaps there is a case to made for feeding them and enjoying their acrobatic antics.

What Is the Downside of Feeding Squirrels?

The reality is that most wildlife professionals advocate against feeding squirrels.

Generally speaking, most of the squirrel food available commercially is not good for squirrels. These add minimal or no nutritional significance and may result in malnutrition. Buying nuts in their shells is expensive and you are going to need a lot of them!

Feeding the squirrels makes them forget their natural fear of humans. There have even been reports of squirrels becoming aggressive when not fed. They can cause a lot of damage in your yard and house, so you may not want them becoming too comfortable with human contact.

Squirrels come with parasites and diseases. Fleas and ticks available in squirrels transmit a number of diseases. Typically, squirrel feces and urine consist of a wide range of contaminants , such as leptospirosis and salmonella.

Lastly, feeding squirrels may affect the delicate wildlife balance of that area. Squirrels tend to congregate where food is readily available. The squirrel population can become so large that there isn’t enough food for them all. This increases the chance of disease. What’s more, the presence of rodents could also lure prey animals, such as owls, hawks, and coyotes to the area. This may not be ideal.

Attracting Squirrels Without Feeding

If you decide not to feed squirrels, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to attract them to your yard.  The best way is to use native plants in your landscaping. They will provide both food and shelter for the squirrels.

Consider planting shrubs like wild cherry, red osier dogwood and hawthorn. If you have space for trees, you might plant oak, hickory, beech, pine, spruce, and maple. All of these plants will eventually provide food and give the squirrels a place to build their nests.

Conclusion

Squirrels are regarded as opportunistic eaters and will feed on anything that you leave them. Nonetheless, select food carefully to ensure that they are well-taken care of. The best foods to provide are unshelled nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Squirrels particularly enjoy hickory, hazelnuts, pecans, no citrus fruits, and pumpkin seeds. Avoid peanuts and sunflower seeds as they do not provide the right kinds of nutrients for squirrels.