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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.

By The Grow In Backyard Team 3 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A squirrel holding a nut in both front paws
Photo: Julian Paren, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Most of what people hand squirrels is somewhere between useless and harmful — including the two classics, peanuts and bread.

The do-not list

What causes what
FoodProblem
ChocolateToxic — theobromine, which they metabolise slowly
Salted or seasoned nutsCannot process the sodium
Bread, crackers, cerealNutritionally empty; displaces real food
Corn, in quantityPoor nutrition; carries aflatoxin-producing mould when damp
Peanuts as a stapleLow calcium relative to phosphorus → metabolic bone disease
Sugary or processed human foodSame problems, plus dental damage
DairySquirrels are lactose intolerant
Onion, garlicToxic to many small mammals
AvocadoPersin is toxic to many animals

The peanut problem is real and visible

Peanuts are legumes, not nuts, and the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is badly wrong for a squirrel. A diet dominated by them causes metabolic bone disease — soft bones, tremors, paralysis, and eventually death. Wildlife rehabilitators see it routinely in urban squirrels from areas where people feed heavily.

An occasional peanut is not the issue. Peanuts as the daily offering are.

If you feed anyway

Better options:

  • Tree nuts in the shell — walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans. The shell matters: squirrel incisors grow continuously and need gnawing to stay worn down.
  • Raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds, in moderation.
  • Apple, carrot, broccoli, leafy greens.
  • A cuttlebone or shed antler for calcium and tooth wear.

Always unsalted, unseasoned, unroasted.

Hand-feeding also raises the bite question, and the disease answer is narrower than people expect — can squirrels get rabies.

The case against feeding

Legal nearly everywhere, and discouraged by nearly every wildlife organisation, for reasons that are mostly about the squirrels:

Density. Feeding supports more squirrels than the habitat can, which raises disease transmission — mange, parasites — within the population.

Nest predation. More squirrels in an area means more raiding of songbird nests nearby.

Habituation. A squirrel that has lost its fear of people approaches them, and sometimes bites. Bite wounds mean a rabies risk assessment in many jurisdictions, even though squirrels are very rarely rabid.

Property damage. Bold squirrels investigate soffits, vents and attics, and a squirrel in a roof space is an expensive problem.

They do not need it. Squirrels cache food all autumn precisely so they do not need help in winter, and they find a great deal of what they bury.

The better version

If the point is having squirrels around to watch, habitat beats handouts:

  • Plant oak, hazel, walnut or beech if there is room — a nut tree feeds squirrels for decades.
  • Leave some fallen fruit under trees in autumn.
  • Leave brush piles and standing dead wood for shelter.
  • Provide water, which is often scarcer than food in a suburban garden.

That supports squirrels without concentrating them unnaturally, and without teaching them that people are a food source.

Common questions

What should you not feed squirrels?

Chocolate, which contains theobromine and is toxic to them as it is to dogs. Salted or seasoned nuts, which they cannot process. Bread and processed human food, which offers nothing nutritionally. Corn in quantity, which is low in what they need and can carry aflatoxin-producing mould. And peanuts, which despite being the classic squirrel food are legumes rather than nuts, low in calcium, and linked to metabolic bone disease where they make up much of the diet.

Is it OK to feed squirrels?

It is legal in most places but generally discouraged. Feeding raises local squirrel densities above what the habitat supports, which increases disease transmission, nest predation on birds, and conflict with neighbours. It also removes their fear of people, and a habituated squirrel that approaches for food sometimes bites. Squirrels in almost every environment find plenty on their own, including in winter — the caching behaviour exists precisely for that.

Can squirrels eat peanuts?

In small amounts, occasionally, yes — but peanuts are a poor staple. They are legumes rather than true nuts, low in calcium relative to phosphorus, and a diet heavy in them is associated with metabolic bone disease, a serious and visible condition. Raw peanuts can also carry aflatoxin-producing moulds. If you do feed, tree nuts in shells — walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds — are far better.

Is chocolate bad for squirrels?

Yes, genuinely toxic. Chocolate contains theobromine, which squirrels metabolise slowly, and it causes the same kind of harm it does in dogs — at their body weight, a small quantity goes a long way. Dark chocolate and cocoa are worse than milk. There is no safe amount worth offering.

What is safe to feed squirrels?

Tree nuts still in the shell — walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans — which also give them something to gnaw, since their teeth grow continuously. Raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds in moderation, apple, carrot, broccoli and leafy greens. Everything unsalted, unseasoned and unroasted. A cuttlebone or antler provides calcium and wear for the teeth.

Does feeding squirrels make them dependent?

Not in the way people usually mean — squirrels forage constantly and do not lose the ability. The real effects are behavioural and ecological: habituation to people, higher local densities than the habitat would support, more disease spread, increased raiding of bird nests, and property damage as bolder squirrels investigate attics and soffits.

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