Do Squirrels Lose Their Winter Coat? Twice a Year

Squirrels moult in spring and again in autumn, head to tail one way and tail to head the other. What a patchy squirrel means, and when it does not.

By Zakaria November 2, 2026 2 min read Save to Pinterest

A red squirrel in thick winter coat with prominent ear tufts, feeding on snowy grass — Photo: Oldiefan, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay

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Squirrels moult twice a year, and the two moults run in opposite directions along the body. Most “something is wrong with that squirrel” sightings in May are a moult in progress.

The short answer

Yes, twice a year. The spring moult runs roughly April to June and replaces the dense winter coat with a thinner summer one, progressing from head to tail. The autumn moult runs September to November in the opposite direction, tail to head, and produces the thick winter coat and a red squirrel's ear tufts. The tail moults only once, slowly, in summer. A ragged or two-toned squirrel in those windows is normal. Bare, grey, thickened or crusted skin — especially around the face and limbs — is not a moult but mange or a fungal infection, and so is hair loss outside the moult seasons in a thin, lethargic animal.

Two moults a year, spring and autumn
Spring runs head to tail; autumn runs tail to head
The tail moults once, slowly, in summer
Short new fur = moult. Bare grey skin = not a moult
Red squirrels change colour noticeably; greys less so

The two moults

	spring moult	autumn moult
Timing	April–June	September–November
Direction	head → tail	tail → head
Result	thin summer coat	dense winter coat
Ear tufts (reds)	lost	grown
Appearance mid-moult	two-toned, ragged	thickening, scruffy

Moult or disease

sign	moult	problem
Short new fur under the old	yes	—
Bare, grey, thickened skin	no	mange
Crusts and scabs	no	mange or pox
Clean-edged bald patches	no	fungal
Normal weight and behaviour	yes	—
Thin, lethargic, constant scratching	no	yes
Outside April–June / Sept–Nov	no	yes

Do not medicate a wild squirrel

Putting livestock parasiticides into food for garden wildlife is unreliable at best — dose cannot be controlled, and other animals eat it — and it is illegal in many jurisdictions. A badly affected animal is a call to a wildlife rehabilitator.

What you will actually see

May: a squirrel with a sleek head and a shaggy back half
October: the reverse, plus visibly thicker flanks
Midsummer: a thin, rat-like tail as the tail moult passes through
Any season: individual greys ranging from pale brown to black, which is colour variation, not moult

The tail is the giveaway

A squirrel with a startlingly thin tail in July usually alarms people most, and it is the most normal thing on this page. The tail moults once a year and looks wrong for weeks while it does.

Common questions

Do squirrels moult?

Twice a year. The spring moult replaces the dense winter coat with a shorter, thinner summer one, and runs roughly from April to June. The autumn moult does the reverse from September to November and produces the thick coat and, in red squirrels, the ear tufts. A moulting squirrel often looks ragged or two-toned for several weeks, which is normal.

Which direction does the moult run?

Opposite ways in the two seasons. The spring moult generally progresses from the head backwards toward the tail; the autumn moult runs from the tail forward toward the head. The tail itself moults only once a year, in summer, and does it slowly. A squirrel with a shaggy head and a sleek rear in May is mid-moult, not ill.

When is patchy fur a problem rather than a moult?

When the bare skin looks wrong. A normal moult leaves short new fur, not bare skin, and the animal behaves normally. Grey, thickened, crusted or scabby skin with complete hair loss, especially around the face, limbs and tail base, suggests mange or a fungal infection. So does hair loss outside the two moult windows, or an animal that is lethargic, thin and scratching constantly.

What causes bald squirrels in summer?

Most often notoedric mange, caused by a burrowing mite, which produces grey wrinkled skin and widespread hair loss, or a dermatophyte — a ringworm-type fungal infection — which tends to leave cleaner-edged bald patches without much skin thickening. Squirrelpox causes skin lesions rather than simple baldness. Some individuals also lose fur to fighting or to rubbing in a tight nest cavity.

Do squirrels change colour as well as coat?

Red squirrels change noticeably — the summer coat is brighter chestnut and the winter coat is greyer with prominent ear tufts, so much so that people often think they are seeing a different species. Greys change less, though the winter coat is thicker and often looks more silvered. Individual greys also vary from brown to near-black regardless of season.

Does a bald squirrel survive the winter?

A mange-affected squirrel going into hard winter weather has poor odds, because the lost insulation matters more than the infection itself. Mild cases recover. There is no safe way to treat a wild squirrel yourself — dosing wildlife with livestock parasiticides in food is both unreliable and illegal in many places — so a badly affected animal is a call to a wildlife rehabilitator.

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A red squirrel with dark winter ear tufts on a snow-covered bird table

Backyard Animals · Nov 2, 2026

Do Squirrels Lose Their Winter Coat? Twice a Year

The two moults

Moult or disease

What you will actually see