Did You Know?
- The Cream-Coloured Giant Squirrel can only be found in Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia (thought to be extinct in Vietnam)
- This incredibly large tree squirrel is roughly the same size as your typical house cat (now that is a big squirrel!)
- The Cream-Coloured Giant Squirrel (also known as the Pale Giant Squirrel) is known to construct nest as large as an Eagles nest (having seen many Bald Eagle nests first hand…this is quite amazing as those things are gigantic)
- Interestingly enough, the Pale Giant Squirrel is the only giant squirrel found in Borneo (an island composed of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia) and is one of the largest squirrels in southeast Asia.
How Big is the Cream-Coloured Giant Squirrel?
As I alluded to above, the Pale Giant Squirrel is roughly the size of your standard house cat but let’s put some actual numbers down on paper (or on the computer screen), shall we? The average length of this furry rodent is roughly 35 cm (14″), which may not seem that large until you realize that is just their body. You still need to factor in their 44 cm (17.8″) long tail, so that puts their total length somewhere around 79 cm (31.2″). The average weight for this rather long rodent is roughly 1575 grams (3.47 lbs) so while it won’t win any records for the World’s Heaviest animal, these are still quite impressive numbers for a squirrel.
Taking a Stand Against Feeding Stereotypes
The particular Giant Squirrel likes being different from all other squirrels when it comes to eating. You see, most squirrels enjoy snacking while sitting down with their long, bushy tail perched up over their body. But today’s featured animal does things its own way and chooses to stand while feeding. The Pale Giant Squirrel will rest their hind legs against a sturdy tree branch leaving their two front feet free for manipulating their food. In this scenario they rely heavily on the extremely long tail to provide balance. After all, nothing is worse then falling out of a tree while snacking on some delicious seeds (okay, maybe there are a few things that are worse but this would still be pretty bad).
