Abert’s squirrel is the tree squirrel of New Mexico’s ponderosa pine belt, and its 1334 records map that belt almost exactly. The heaviest concentrations sit in the mountains around Albuquerque and the Jemez, led by Sandia Mountain Wilderness, Bandelier National Monument, and Cibola National Forest, with a second strong showing in the southwestern high country of Grant and Catron counties.
A squirrel built around one tree
Few North American squirrels tie themselves to a single tree the way this one does. Abert’s squirrel eats ponderosa pine inner bark, buds, and seeds, and digs up the truffles that grow on the tree’s roots, then nests in a ball of twigs wedged into a ponderosa crown. Where the pine forest breaks for desert basin or grassland, the squirrel stops, so the record traces forested mountain islands rather than the open country between them.
Active in every season
Reports arrive in every month, rising modestly through April and May. Unlike the ground squirrels it shares these mountains with, Abert’s squirrel does not hibernate. Through winter it feeds on twig bark and fungi dug from the forest floor, working the same crowns it used all summer. The spring rise fits the season when squirrels range widely for fresh growth and when new litters begin venturing from the nest.
Status in New Mexico
NatureServe ranks Abert’s squirrel S4, Apparently Secure, in New Mexico, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
