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50 free Squirrels Trivia for Kids trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This squirrels trivia for kids is a fun, easy quiz for players aged around 8 to 12 who like watching the squirrels in the park. It covers what makes a squirrel a squirrel (the family that also includes chipmunks, prairie dogs, marmots and groundhogs), how they climb down trees head first, why their front teeth never stop growing, how gray squirrels bury thousands of nuts a year and find them again, what a drey is, how flying squirrels glide, and the surprising discovery that some of them glow pink under ultraviolet light. There are the record holders too: the tiniest squirrel that weighs less than a mouse, the biggest that is longer than a child is tall, and the colourful giant squirrel of India. The last stretch is about famous squirrels: Scrat and his acorn, Sandy Cheeks, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Squirrel Nutkin, Secret Squirrel, Squirrel Girl, Chip 'n' Dale, Punxsutawney Phil and Ratatoskr from Norse myth. Every answer comes with a short explanation that adds one more fact. Nothing needs a science textbook, and it works well in a classroom or at a nature center. Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which of these animals belongs to the squirrel family?
Chipmunk
The family Sciuridae includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels such as chipmunks and prairie dogs, and flying squirrels.
Q 02The word 'squirrel' comes from an ancient Greek word meaning what?
Shadow tail
Skiouros combined the words for shade and tail, because a squirrel's bushy tail can shade its whole body.
Q 03To which continent did humans introduce squirrels, native to the Americas, Eurasia and Africa?
Australia
Antarctica remains the only continent with no squirrels at all.
Q 04Which squirrel is the smallest in the world, weighing less than a house mouse?
The African pygmy
It is only about 12 to 14 centimetres long, including its tail, and lives in the rainforests of Cameroon and Gabon.
Q 05Which is the longest squirrel in the world, at up to 1.27 metres from nose to tail tip?
Bhutan giant flying
Marmots are heavier, though, with several species weighing 8 kilograms or more.
Q 06Unlike most mammals, tree squirrels can climb down a tree in what way?
Head first
They can turn their back feet around to grip the bark on the way down.
Q 07A squirrel's big front teeth, its incisors, do what?
Grow throughout its life
Constant gnawing keeps them worn down; behind them is a gap and then flat cheek teeth for grinding.
Q 08Squirrels mostly eat seeds and nuts, but many will also eat what?
Insects
Some even eat small vertebrates, and gray squirrels also eat mushrooms, buds and berries.
Q 09Where do squirrels in cooler climates usually hide their nuts for later?
Under leaves, in trees or underground
In warm, wet places some squirrels hang nuts and mushrooms on branches instead so they do not go mouldy.
Q 10Two kinds of flying squirrel carve grooves into nuts so they can do what?
Wedge them tightly between twigs
It works like a carpenter's mortise-and-tenon joint, so the nut stays put in the tree.
Q 11About how many little food caches does a scatter-hoarding gray squirrel make each season?
Several thousand
They remember where most of them are using landmarks, and the forgotten ones can grow into new trees.
Q 12How do gray squirrels find the nuts they buried months earlier?
Sharp memory for landmarks
They use both faraway and nearby landmarks, and their sense of smell helps close up.
Q 13A squirrel's leafy nest built in the fork of a tree is called what?
A drey
It is roughly ball-shaped, 30 to 60 centimetres across, and lined with moss, grass and feathers to keep warm.
Q 21Flying squirrels are mostly active at what time?
Night
Tree squirrels and ground squirrels are usually out during the day or at dusk.
Q 22Chipmunks carry food back to their burrows in what?
Cheek pouches
The seeds they store and forget help new plants and fungi grow across the forest.
Q 23Almost all chipmunks live in North America. The only one found mainly in Asia is which?
The Siberian chipmunk
There are about 25 chipmunk species, most of them in western North America.
Q 14Gray squirrels flick their tails and make a 'kuk' call to do what?
Warn others about a predator
They also use it to announce when the danger has gone away.
Q 15In Britain, the eastern gray squirrel has largely pushed out which native squirrel?
Red
Grays were brought over from North America and are now listed as an invasive species in Europe.
Q 16Which feature distinguishes a Eurasian red squirrel from a gray squirrel, especially in winter?
Tufted ears
It sheds its coat twice a year, growing a thicker, darker one with bigger ear tufts for winter.
Q 17The American red squirrel mostly eats the seeds of what?
Conifer cones
It fiercely defends its own patch of forest all year round, chattering at anyone who comes near.
Q 18Which is the largest tree squirrel native to North America?
Fox
Fox squirrels spend more time on the ground than most tree squirrels and are active only by day.
Q 19How do flying squirrels move from tree to tree?
They glide on a furry skin flap
The membrane, called a patagium, stretches from wrist to ankle; they cannot truly fly like birds or bats.
Q 20In 2019 scientists discovered by chance that flying squirrels glow which colour under ultraviolet light?
Pink
Ordinary squirrels do not glow at all, and nobody is sure yet why the flying ones do.
Q 24A groundhog is a large ground squirrel also known by which other name?
Woodchuck
It has dozens of nicknames including whistle-pig, and it warns others by whistling.
Q 25Before hibernating, a groundhog's weight can increase by as much as what?
100 percent, doubling
From June its metabolism slows and it builds up fat to survive the winter underground.
Q 26On Groundhog Day, if the groundhog sees its shadow, what is supposed to happen?
Six more weeks of winter
The tradition comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch and is celebrated every February 2, though studies show it does not really predict the weather.
Q 27Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous weather-forecasting groundhog, lives in which state?
Pennsylvania
He is the star of the town of Punxsutawney's Groundhog Day celebration every February 2.
Q 28Prairie dogs got their name from their habitat and their warning call, which sounds like what?
A dog's bark
Explorer Meriwether Lewis called them 'barking squirrels' in 1806; there are five species.
Q 29Which members of the squirrel family are the heaviest and largest?
Marmots
They spend the whole winter hibernating underground and live in groups in summer.
Q 30The Malabar giant squirrel, famous for its bright multi-coloured fur, lives only in which country?
India
It lives in the forests of the Western and Eastern Ghats and can be maroon, purple and cream.