Do Squirrels Eat Meat? Insects, Eggs and Occasionally Mice
Squirrels are opportunistic omnivores, not strict vegetarians. What they actually take besides nuts, when they do it, and why spring is the peak.
By 
On this page
Yes — opportunistically, and more often than their reputation suggests. Squirrels are omnivores that happen to eat a great many nuts, not vegetarians that occasionally slip.
What they actually take
| Food | How often |
|---|---|
| Insects, caterpillars, grubs | Common |
| Cicadas | In quantity during an emergence |
| Bird eggs | Common in spring |
| Nestlings | Occasional |
| Mealworms at a feeder | Readily, given the chance |
| Mice, young rats | Occasional and documented |
| Small lizards, frogs | Occasional |
| Carrion | Occasional |
| Bones, antler, shed skin | Gnawed for minerals |
It is scavenging rather than predation. A squirrel does not hunt rodents the way a cat does. It eats what it finds — a nest of pinkies, a slow cicada, an injured lizard, roadkill — and most of what it finds is easy.
Why a nut-eater needs protein
Nuts are rich in fat and carbohydrate and comparatively poor in protein and minerals. For most of the year that is fine. It stops being fine when:
- Caches run out in late winter and early spring
- Nut supplies are at their annual lowest
- Females are pregnant or nursing, which is expensive
- Kits are growing
That is why the behaviour peaks in spring — the same weeks that bird nests are full of eggs, which is not a coincidence.
Gnawing bones and antlers is the same signal
A squirrel chewing a shed antler, a bone, or the shell of a dead snail is not being odd. It is taking calcium and phosphorus that a nut diet does not supply, and it happens most in spring for the same reason.
It is also why they gnaw at unlikely things around a garden — and occasionally at deck rails.
Cicadas
The clearest case, because the scale is visible. During a periodical cicada emergence, large slow protein-rich insects arrive in enormous numbers, and squirrels eat them steadily for weeks alongside every other opportunist in the wood.
Research on emergence years has recorded measurable increases in small mammal populations afterwards, which is a fair measure of how much those weeks supply.
Annual cicadas get eaten too — just fewer of them.
Mealworms at the feeder
Dried mealworms put out for bluebirds and robins are taken by squirrels without hesitation. This is a common frustration and there is no clever answer: nothing about mealworms deters them.
The fix is the same as for seed — a caged feeder with roughly one and a half inch mesh admits small birds and excludes squirrels.
Are they a problem for nesting birds
They take eggs and nestlings, and they are a genuine nest predator — but a minor one. Cats, corvids, raccoons and snakes all take more.
A garden with squirrels still has nesting birds. If you want to reduce the risk, the effective measures are the ones that work on every nest predator at once:
- Baffled poles under nest boxes, not boxes on tree trunks
- Correct hole size for the species you want, which excludes larger raiders
- Keep cats indoors through the breeding season — by a wide margin the biggest single intervention available
- Dense thorny cover for open-cup nesters
The short answer
Squirrels are omnivores that specialise in nuts, not vegetarians making exceptions. Protein is a normal part of the diet, it is taken opportunistically rather than hunted, and it matters most in the weeks when nuts matter least.
Common questions
Do squirrels eat meat?
Do squirrels eat mice?
Do squirrels eat cicadas?
Will squirrels eat mealworms from a bird feeder?
Why do squirrels eat protein at all?
Does this make squirrels a threat to nesting birds?
Backyard Weekly
Know what to plant, week by week
Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.
Not ready to subscribe? The planting calendar is free and needs no email.
By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.
Keep reading
Do Squirrels Eat Bird Eggs? Yes, and Nestlings Too
Grey squirrels raid nests opportunistically, especially in spring when other food is scarce. How much it matters, and what actually protects a nest box.
What Not to Feed Squirrels (And Whether to Feed Them at All)
Peanuts, bread, chocolate and salted nuts all cause real harm. The safe list, why corn is worse than it looks, and the case against feeding squirrels.
How to Attract Squirrels to Your Yard (And Whether To)
Nut trees, water and cover bring squirrels in far more durably than a feeder. What works, what to put out, and the costs worth weighing first.
Do Squirrels Eat Pumpkin Seeds? Yes — and Your Pumpkin
Squirrels eat pumpkin seeds readily and will hollow out a porch pumpkin to get them. What is safe to offer, what is not, and how to protect the display.