Montana’s occurrence databases hold 1,640 records of the American red squirrel, one of the most frequently logged mammals in this survey. A high count here says more about how easy the squirrel is to detect, chattering and defending its own patch of forest, than about how many actually live in the state.
Conifer forest on both sides of the Divide
Red squirrels follow conifer forest wherever it grows in Montana, from the spruce and fir stands of the Northern Rockies around Glacier National Park and the Custer-Gallatin high country to the scattered ponderosa pine stringers cutting through grassland in the Missouri River Breaks. Wherever cone-bearing trees hold on, whether that’s a solid mountain forest or a thin pine draw far out onto the plains, a red squirrel can carve out enough territory to survive on the cones alone.
A midden is a multi-generation cone bank
Each squirrel defends a central cache called a midden, a mounded pile of stripped cone scales built up over years and sometimes passed between animals at the same spot for generations. Cutting and hoarding conifer cones peaks in late summer, which lines up with the sharp jump in July and August records: that’s when squirrels are most active and most audible, clipping cones loose and scolding anything that gets too close to the stash.
Status in Montana
The red squirrel is native across its Montana range, and NatureServe ranks it S5, secure. Its future here tracks the health of conifer forest, from high mountain stands to the thin pine breaks reaching into the plains, more than any other factor.
Full species profile
