KATO, Jun (Dept. Biol., Fac. Sci., Osaka City Univ., Osaka). 1985. Food and hoarding behavior of Japanese squirrels. Jap. J. Ecol., 35 : 13-20. The food habits of Japanese squirrels were studied in a pine-deciduous mixed forest for four years. Out of a total of 699 sightings, 698 (99.9%) were of plant matter. One sighting of animal matter was the corpse of a squirrel. Among the species of plants consumed, 22 (16 trees, four vines and two grasses) were identified. The main food was walnut cores, Japanese red pine seeds and larch seeds, which composed 68.1% of the total sightings. Various portions of plants (seeds, nuts, fruits, buds, leaves, flowers, bark and sap) were utilized in different seasons. Some food was hoarded in tree folks and under the ground as scattered hoarding, a behavior which was observed mainly in autumn. Walnuts and pine cones were hoarded both arboreally and underground, but mushrooms were only arboreally hoarded. Since underground hoarded food was eaten mainly in the next spring, walnut hoarding in autumn was suggested to be important in the winter and spring life of the squirrels.
