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Squirrels & Wildlife

Do Squirrels Take Naps? Most of the Day, Actually

Squirrels sleep around 14 hours a day in short bouts, and the flat-out sprawl on a hot branch is not sleep at all. What splooting is.

By Zakaria 2 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A fox squirrel stretched flat along a branch high in a tree
Photo: Ray_Shrewsberry, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
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Squirrels sleep a great deal, in short bouts, and the behaviour people most often mistake for a nap — the flat-out sprawl on a hot day — is not sleep at all.

A squirrel’s day

timeactivity
Before dawnin the drey
First 2 hours of lightpeak foraging and caching
Middayrest, splooting in heat
Last 2 hours of lightsecond peak
Nightdrey or cavity, tail over body

Sleep or something else

what you seewhat it is
Curled in a ball in a forksleeping
Flat on belly, limbs splayed, shadesplooting — cooling
Flat on belly, hot paving, pantingcooling, possibly heat-stressed
Still, eyes open, tail flickingalert, not resting
Unresponsive, breathing irregularly, in the openunwell — rehabilitator

Splooting is normal; heat stress is not

A splooting squirrel in shade is fine. One flat on sun-baked paving, panting, with no shade or water nearby is heat-stressed, and the useful intervention is a shallow dish of water in shade, not handling the animal.

Where the sleeping happens

  • Dreys: woven twig balls in a fork, insulated with bark, moss and leaves
  • Cavities: warmer, preferred in winter, limited by availability of old trees
  • Several per animal, so a parasite-fouled or disturbed site can be left
  • Roof spaces: used exactly as a cavity would be, which is the entire problem
  • Communal only in hard cold, or a mother with her litter

Resting on the deck is not nesting under it

Judge by material, not presence. Twigs and insulation being carried in, chewed edges at a gap, and noise at the same hours each day mean a nest. A squirrel lying on the boards means a warm deck.

Common questions

How much do squirrels sleep?

Commonly cited figures run to around 14 hours a day, though it is not one long block. Tree squirrels are diurnal with a strong activity peak after dawn and another before dusk, and the middle of the day is largely rest — in the drey, in a tree fork or stretched along a branch. Night is spent in the drey or a cavity, usually curled with the tail over the body.

Why do squirrels lie flat on branches and paving?

That is splooting, and it is heat management rather than sleep. Pressing the belly and the thinly furred underside of the limbs against a cool surface sheds heat by conduction, which is why it happens on hot days on shaded branches, stone, paving and decking. A splooting squirrel looks alarming and is usually perfectly well.

Do they sleep more in winter?

They rest more and are out less, but they do not hibernate. In a hard spell a tree squirrel may stay in the drey for two or three days at a time with no change in body temperature or metabolism — reduced activity, not torpor. Chipmunks and ground squirrels are different; those go into genuine extended torpor or hibernation.

Where do they actually sleep?

In a drey — a woven ball of twigs, leaves, bark and moss wedged in a fork or against the trunk, usually well up — or in a tree cavity, which is warmer and preferred in winter where available. Most squirrels maintain more than one, so that a drey fouled by parasites or disturbed by a predator can be abandoned. Roof spaces are used in exactly the same way, which is the whole of the problem with them.

Do they sleep alone?

Usually, outside the breeding season and hard weather. Tree squirrels are not social animals and defend a space around themselves, but in very cold conditions several will share a drey for the heat, and a mother shares with her litter until they disperse. Flying squirrels are the opposite — they routinely den communally in large groups.

Is a squirrel sleeping on my deck a problem?

A squirrel resting or splooting on a deck is doing nothing harmful and will move on. What matters is whether it is nesting under or inside the structure, which shows as material being carried in, chewed edges at the access point, or noise overhead at the same times each day. Resting is not nesting.

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