These are the most common squirrels in Sri Lanka. They are very fond of fruits and nuts as well as food scraps and crumbs people throw, so always come near households. There are some regulars of their kind who claim the most of what I put in my bird feeder.
Very active and swift animals, they have a very loud, high pitched, and rapid call that goes "tin, tin, tin".
The females build soft and fluffy nests on tree branches using fiber from dead leaves and grass, etc. Normally there is an average of three offspring at a time.
These squirrels are easily tamed. If people in a particular household give then food regularly, they will probably allow themselves to be hand-fed and nest some where in the house too, as in my old place. I used to raise the orphaned juveniles and release them as they grew up. They always hanged close and let me pet them.
Their main predators are domestic cats and Rat Snakes. Crows snatch juveniles from the nests too. Read more.............
