Red squirrel (Northern squirrel)

Japanese: キタリス(北栗鼠) - キタリス（英語表記）red squirrel

A squirrel found in the forests of northern Europe and Asia. In Japan, it lives in Hokkaido, where it is sometimes called the Hokkaido squirrel and is a distinct subspecies. It is larger than the Japanese squirrel (Hondoris squirrel), found in Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Its coat is usually brown on the back and pure white on the underside, and it has a long tail with a soft, bushy tuft of hair. In winter, it has a long, noticeable tuft of hair at the tip of its ear. It is 20.5-22 cm long, 17-21 cm long, and weighs about 280 g. It prefers forests with large coniferous trees, and sleeps at night in nests made of woven twigs on the branches of trees. It is active during the day, especially for 3-4 hours after sunrise, moving around a home range of 100-400 square meters, eating nuts, buds, young leaves, mushrooms, etc.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

ヨーロッパからアジアの北部森林帯に広く分布する樹上生のリス。日本には北海道に生息し，亜種として区別されエゾリスと呼ばれることがある。本州，九州，四国に分布するニホンリス(ホンドリス)よりも体が大きい。毛色はふつう背面が褐色，腹面は純白，ふさふさした柔らかな房毛（ふさげ）の生える長い尾をもつ。冬毛では耳の先端によく目だつ長い毛の房をもつ。体長20.5～22cm，尾長17～21cm，体重280g前後。大きな針葉樹の生える森林に好んですみ，夜は木の枝の上に小枝を編んでつくった巣の中で眠り，昼間，とくに日の出後の3～4時間を活発に活動して，100～400m四方に及ぶ行動圏を動き回り，木の実，芽，若葉，キノコなどを食べる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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