Feeding wildlife makes us feel good. No doubt it feels even better when an animal takes our offering with enthusiasm. vs. seeing them do the “no thanks” routine.
Bread is usually taken with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the only one winning in that scene is us. Because sadly, the squirrel is not getting what it needs from store bought bread.
Coming up, 5 reasons to stop feeding bread and a link to better options.
Squirrels may not benefit from enriched products like bread. Because pulverized grains lose much of their nutritional value, lots of nutrients get added back in after the fact.
When doing so, manufacturers are thinking about humans and definitely not squirrels.
Those extra nutrients may be exactly what a squirrel doesn’t need. A squirrel doesn’t need nearly the amount iron or b vitamins that we can safely consume.
Vitamins Added to Breads Can Hurt Squirrels
Some breads and cereals take an extra step and add all types of extra vitamins and minerals. Sometimes these added vitamins are 100% of a human adult’s recommended daily dose.
We might view this as tremendously beneficial and convenient. Especially for those of us who don’t get vitamins and minerals from natural sources.
However, squirrels are especially susceptible to excess vitamins. Especially Vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol-D3.
Vitamin D3 has historically been added to food as a fortifier to improve calcium levels in the human body. It is commonly added to milk and other similar food products. Vitamin D3 (i.e., cholecalciferol) has been used as a rodenticide since the 1970s. It is used in the creation of pellets and other baits targeted at mice, rats, moles, and gophers – Source link USDA
Moldy Bread Can Harm Squirrels
Molds can be benign to a squirrel, but that’s rare. On the mild end, they are allergens which may cause difficulty breathing, hair loss, rash or diarrhea. It often happens with cracked corn.
In some cases, mold is toxic and will kill the squirrel.
While squirrels may be keenly aware of dangerous smells, sometimes they miscalculate. This happens with molds and fungi such as certain toxic mushrooms.
Bread Has Dangerous Preservatives
Some breads never go moldy and that is equally concerning to a squirrel. If your bread looks the same as it did 30 days prior, it’s loaded with chemicals.
Feeding chemicals and preservatives to squirrels can be harmful. Think of how much tinier their organs are. That’s a lot of work for a small organ.
Added Sugars in Bread is Bad for Squirrels
Squirrels and sugar do not go together. Sadly many breads have added sugars to make us crave them!
When a squirrel consumes sugar, it’s best to come from sources loaded with fiber such as fruits it would find in its natural environment.
In Summary
Breads are not even all that healthy for us. Many nutritionists encourage us to skip it or make it count. Such as sourdough from home starters.
In general, it is not a good idea to toss bread out to the squirrels, and never toss moldy bread. A good rule of thumb for feeding squirrels is “no prepared foods” which means stay away from anything with an ingredient list.
While you may see a squirrel eating bread, there are better choices. Have a look at our food list and how squirrels behaved when fed these foods in rehab.
Bread, especially in large quantities, can lead to health issues for squirrels: Nutritional Value: Bread, particularly white bread, lacks the essential nutrients that squirrels need to maintain their health. It's low in protein and can be high in sugars and preservatives.
Bread products contain very little nutritional value for wildlife. In fact, they can be full of sugars, sodium and carbohydrates. Sadly, these ingredients can be deadly to birds, squirrels, fish and many other animals that are not equipped to digest this unnatural diet.
1. Chocolate: While it may be a delightful treat for us, chocolate contains theobromine, which is toxic to squirrels and can lead to severe health problems. 2. Avocado: Avocados contain persin, a substance that is toxic to many animals, including squirrels.
All kinds of molds are toxic to birds. Bread molds can include several kinds of fungus. Those fuzzy spots you see on the bread are spore colonies, and that's how mold reproduces.
The salt is also very bad of squirrels while the sugar has much the same effect as in children. Squirrels are hyper naturally and sugar gets them even more excited which is bad for their overall health. Other junk food such as pizza, hot dogs and so on are very bad for squirrels and aren't part of their natural diet.
Adult Squirrels can consume about one and a half pounds of seeds and nuts each week, which is roughly the equivalent of their own body weight. Squirrels' favorite natural foods are hickory nuts, pecans, black walnuts, and acorns.
In particular, a variety of walnuts, hickory nuts, white oak acorns, beechnuts make for a great squirrel diet. Since the shelled versions of these nuts are rarely for sale on a retail level, you can visit a nearby forest and pick up a variety and then dole them out in a squirrel feeder throughout the year.
While they look cute, never attempt to handle or pick up a squirrel. They are still a wild animal, and squirrels can be dangerous. Their bites and scratches hurt and could potential spread a disease. Contact professional wildlife removal services if you've identified a squirrel problem on your property.
Wildlife experts advise against it for several reasons. First, providing food may make them dependent upon humans and lead them to lose the ability to find their own food. Second, squirrels can become too comfortable around humans over time, and losing their natural fear of us could make them aggressive toward us.
Scents like white pepper, black pepper, and garlic are naturally unpleasant to a squirrel. The same goes for sweet smells such as peppermint. Try spraying your plants and flowers with water and then sprinkling on pepper or peppermint oil to deter squirrels.
In addition to what they don't like, there are also things that squirrels shouldn't eat; for example, dairy products, chocolate, junk food, candy, highly processed foods they may find in trash cans, and even many of the foods that they love such as sugary cereals would not normally be eaten by a squirrel in a perfect ...
The squirrel pox virus, sometimes wrongly referred to as squirrel para-pox, is responsible for the disease known as squirrel pox which presents in red squirrels with a mange, scab or myxomatosis - like symptoms, leading to rapid loss of body condition and subsequently death.
Bread, especially in large quantities, can lead to health issues for squirrels: Nutritional Value: Bread, particularly white bread, lacks the essential nutrients that squirrels need to maintain their health. It's low in protein and can be high in sugars and preservatives.
Squirrels love popcorn. You can feed them unpopped popcorn kernels by the handful. Should you wish to bring along some popped popcorn, they will love that as well. Don't feed the squirrels any kind of flavored popcorn or popcorn that has been cooked in oil.
Dairy – squirrels will happily chomp on a chunk of cheese given a chance. But it's not good for them. And like much of our wildlife squirrels don't do well with lactose or anything derived from cows milk.
Depending on humans for food is called food conditioning. Food conditioning is dangerous for animals because it can lead to serious consequences like getting sick, starving, or even having to be killed if they become too aggressive. Animals can lose their fear of people when they get used to eating our food.
As most people know, squirrels love most types of nuts but they will also eat fresh fruit and vegetables. The best thing to feed these animals is either Nuts in Shells, Jumbo Peanuts or specifically made Squirrel Food.
Many people think these are great for squirrels, but the truth is that they have poor nutritional value, plus peanuts can harbor poisonous mold that is bad for squirrels. Jme from Motley Zoo agrees that much of what we feed squirrels is not great for them, even if the squirrels love them.
Rodents like mice or rats will eat anything in sight and smell; a loaf of bread with a spread of peanut butter is an excellent menu for this kind of pest. Crawling insects like co*ckroaches and ants surely love a good snack like your cookies.
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