Life in the Yukon can be tough for young red squirrels.
Life in the Yukon can be tough for young red squirrels.
Frigid winters, food scarcity, intense competition for territories and the threat of becoming prey to large predators like the Canada lynx are just some of the trials they face.
Early-life struggles and trauma can literally get under their skin, affecting long-term survival, said Lauren Petrullo, a University of Arizona assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Scientists want to know what factors, if any, can buffer young squirrels against these threats.
Petrullo is part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a multi-university long-term field project involving the University of Alberta, University of Michigan, University of Colorado Boulder and University of Saskatchewan. The project has tracked and studied thousands of wild North American red squirrels in the southwestern part of Canada's Yukon territory for over 30 years.
Read more at University of Arizona
Image: Red squirrels of the Yukon who survive their first year of life can expect to live three and a half years, on average. (Credit: Ryan Taylor)
