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Where Do Squirrels Sleep at Night? Dreys, Dens and Your Roof

Squirrels sleep in leaf dreys and tree cavities, keep several nests each, and share them for warmth in winter. How to tell a drey from a bird nest.

By Zakaria 4 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
Two grey squirrels at the mouth of a cavity in a tree trunk, one looking out
Photo: Boys in Bristol Photography, Pexels License, via Pexels
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Two kinds of bed: a drey — the football of leaves in the branch fork — and a den, a cavity inside the trunk. Squirrels want the den, and settle for the drey.

The two kinds of nest

Drey and den
DreyDen
WhatBall of leaves and twigsCavity inside the trunk
WhereBranch fork, high, near the trunkOld woodpecker hole, rot hollow
WarmthGoodMuch better
SafetyExposed to weather and predatorsFar safer
PreferredFallbackYes, strongly
Used forA season, constantly repairedYears

A drey is better built than it looks. The outer shell is twigs with the leaves still on, woven and wedged tight; inside is a lined chamber of moss, grass, shredded bark and fur, with a small entrance. It sheds rain and holds heat well enough for a squirrel to sleep through a hard frost.

Dens are the prize, which is why mature trees with cavities matter so much — and why an attic looks, from a squirrel’s point of view, like the best den in the neighbourhood.

Telling a drey from a bird’s nest

Leaves still on the tree in January

The easiest identification available. A mass of brown leaves still up in a bare winter tree is nearly always a drey.

Bird nests are cups, open at the top, smaller, more neatly built, and often out on thinner branches. A drey is a solid enclosed ball, roughly football-sized, wedged into a fork close to the trunk.

Several nests each

An adult squirrel maintains several nests across its range and rotates between them:

  • Spreads the risk if a predator locates one
  • Gives it somewhere to go when a nest floods or becomes flea-ridden
  • Covers the territory, so it is never far from cover

It still returns to a good nest repeatedly, and a tree cavity gets used for years and is worth fighting over. Dreys are constantly repaired rather than built once — a squirrel carrying leaves in October is doing maintenance, not starting from scratch.

Sharing, and winter

Mostly solitary, unlike flying squirrels, which pile in by the dozen. But:

  • Two or three greys commonly share a den in cold weather to save heat
  • Siblings from a litter often overwinter together
  • A mother with kits is the other case, and she will move the whole litter — carrying them one at a time by the scruff — if the nest is disturbed or infested

They do not hibernate. Grey and fox squirrels stay active all winter, emerging to retrieve cached food during the warmest part of the day. In severe weather they may stay in for a day or two, which is sitting it out rather than dormancy.

Ground squirrels and chipmunks are different and do enter genuine winter dormancy underground.

Where the nest goes

  • High — typically 20 to 40 feet up, in the upper third of the tree
  • Close to the trunk, in a strong fork, not out on a limb
  • Hardwoods preferred — oak, maple, beech — for both structure and food
  • Sheltered from prevailing wind
  • Sometimes in ivy on a trunk or wall, in dense conifers, or in a large bird box

When the nest is in your roof

An attic is a den without the drawbacks, from the squirrel’s side.

Do not seal a hole before checking for young

A sealed litter dies in the ceiling, and the mother chews new holes trying to reach it. You then have a smell in the walls and a second entry point.

Check for kits first. Litters are in the nest from late February to March, and again in July to August.

The order that works:

  1. Establish whether young are present — listen at the ceiling, and note the season
  2. Find every entry point, not just the obvious one
  3. One-way exclusion door on the main hole, everything else sealed
  4. Wait a week, then close the last hole
  5. Seal with half-inch hardware cloth or metal flashing. They chew foam, plastic and wood
  6. Cut branches back at least ten feet from the roof — this is usually the whole access route
  7. Do the work in autumn, between the two breeding seasons

If you want them nesting where you can watch

  • Leave dead standing timber where it is safe to do so. Cavities are the limiting resource
  • A squirrel nest box — larger than a bird box, with a 3 inch hole, fixed 15 to 20 feet up
  • Do not clear every leaf in autumn. Drey material comes from somewhere
  • Plant nut trees if you have the room and the patience: oak, hickory, walnut, hazel

A garden with cavities and cover holds squirrels that mostly leave your roof alone, which is the version of this that suits everybody.

Common questions

Where do squirrels sleep at night?

In a nest, and they have two kinds. A drey is the bulky ball of leaves and twigs wedged in a branch fork high in a tree, lined inside with moss, grass, shredded bark and fur. A den is a cavity inside the trunk — an old woodpecker hole or a rot hollow — and squirrels prefer dens wherever they can get one, because a cavity is warmer, drier and far safer from predators and weather. Both are insulated well enough that a squirrel sleeps through a hard frost without hibernating.

How can I tell a drey from a bird's nest?

Size and shape. A drey is a solid ball roughly the size of a football, enclosed on all sides with a small entrance hole, and it is usually wedged tight into a branch fork close to the trunk. A bird's nest is a cup, open at the top, much smaller and more neatly built, and often out on thinner branches. Dreys also keep their leaves — a mass of brown leaves still in a tree in midwinter, when everything else is bare, is nearly always a drey.

How many squirrels sleep in one nest?

Usually one, outside winter and outside the breeding season, because grey squirrels are not social animals in the way that, say, flying squirrels are. In cold weather they do share: two or three greys commonly huddle in one den to save heat, and siblings from the same litter often overwinter together. A mother with dependent kits is the other case, and she may move the whole litter to a different nest if the first is disturbed or becomes flea-ridden.

Do squirrels use the same nest every night?

Not exactly — an adult squirrel maintains several nests across its range and rotates between them, which spreads the risk if a predator finds one and gives it somewhere to go when a nest becomes infested with fleas or soaked in a storm. It will return to the same good nest repeatedly, though, and a tree cavity in particular gets used for years and is worth fighting over. Dreys are rebuilt and repaired constantly rather than built once.

Do squirrels hibernate in winter?

Tree squirrels do not. Grey and fox squirrels stay active all winter, emerging to retrieve cached food during the warmest part of the day, which is why midwinter sightings cluster around midday rather than dawn. In severe weather they may stay in the nest for a day or two at a time, huddled for warmth, but this is sitting out bad weather rather than true dormancy. Ground squirrels and chipmunks are different, and do enter genuine winter dormancy.

What should I do about a squirrel nest in my attic?

Do not seal the entry hole until you know there are no young inside, because a sealed litter dies in the ceiling and the mother will chew new holes trying to reach it. Establish whether kits are present, use a one-way exclusion door so the family can leave but not return, then seal properly with half-inch hardware cloth or metal flashing and cut branches back at least ten feet from the roof. The right time for this work is autumn, between the two breeding seasons.

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