Harmful Foods for Gray Squirrels

A gray squirrel's natural diet consists of nuts, seeds and fruits. In a natural habitat, it rarely consumes meat of any kind unless it cannot find nuts and seeds. When living among humans, gray squirrels will adapt to eating just about anything they glean from trash barrels. Left over human foods such as hot-dog buns, potato chips, pizza and doughnuts are not natural for a squirrel and are potentially harmful to its health.

Harmful Foods

Squirrels adapt to raiding trashcans.

Many harmful foods are not harmful because they are poisonous, but because they upset the natural balance of the squirrel's body. A squirrel will eat pizza, potato chips and other human leftovers because raiding trashcans is easier than searching for nuts. These foods disrupt the natural digestion of the squirrel resulting in weight problems, blood pressure problems and even the natural development of the pelt. All of this contributes to shortening a squirrel's life.

Salt

Gray squirrels naturally consume salt in small doses, which is fine for their health. They get it naturally from many of the nuts they eat, but too much salt could cause an early death. Similar to its effects on humans, too much salt for a squirrel affects its heart, increases its pulse and raises blood pressure. Excessive salt for a squirrel comes in the form of salted peanuts, potato chips and other human foods high in salt.

Sugar

Sugar has many of the same effects on squirrels as it does in humans. Squirrels naturally consume small amounts of sugar in the natural fruits and nuts that they eat. However, excess sugars increase the natural blood-sugar level in a squirrel just like in a human. Increased blood-sugar causes excessive weight gain. A fat squirrel is less likely to avoid predators than a squirrel with a slimmer healthier weight. Excessive sugar also clogs arteries, restricting proper blood flow.

Peanuts

Peanuts alone will not give a gray squirrel all of the vitamins and minerals necessary for its health. A peanut diet can result in weak eyesight, which prevents it from detecting predators. A diet of strictly peanuts will also inhibit the proper growth of the pelt. A squirrel relies on its pelt to keep it warm and a thin pelt could result in freezing to death in very cold weather.