{"id":135783,"date":"2024-10-19T03:08:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T08:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=135783"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:43:13","slug":"fox-squirrel-gnawing-on-an-antler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/19\/fox-squirrel-gnawing-on-an-antler\/","title":{"rendered":"Fox Squirrel Gnawing On An Antler"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time, I saw, photographed, and filmed a Fox Squirrel gnawing on a deer antler<\/span><\/a>, and it was pretty exciting. The squirrel seemed to love it.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Fox Squirrel gnawing on an antler \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/200, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew that squirrels and mice chewed on antlers, but until I researched this behavior, I wasn\u2019t aware that porcupines do as well. Even coyotes, rabbits, foxes, bears, opossums, and otters have been known to eat shed antlers.<\/p>\n

Because antler sheds are important for healthy habitat, antler shed hunting is illegal in many places, and in other locations, it can only be done seasonally.<\/p>\n

I also knew the reason why: it\u2019s for the minerals found in the antlers, including calcium, potassium, and phosphorus.<\/p>\n

In addition, the teeth of mice, porcupines, and squirrels continue to grow throughout their lives, and chewing on antlers helps to wear them down.<\/p>\n

\"FoxFox Squirrel chewing on a deer antler \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/400, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Fox Squirrel was extremely focused on gnawing on the shed antler, so much so that I was able to take a nice, long series of images of him, along with a couple of videos too.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div>\n

The first, longer video was, for all practical purposes, ruined by a loudly yelping dog down the road, right in the middle of the video. Fortunately, that wasn\u2019t an issue with the second, shorter video that I created.<\/p>\n

I found the squirrel\u2019s behavior of chewing on the shed deer antlers fascinating, and I\u2019m glad I was able to video and photograph it to share.<\/p>\n

In nature, I seem find answers to questions I wasn\u2019t even aware I had.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Fox Squirrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time, I saw, photographed, and filmed a Fox Squirrel gnawing on a deer antler, and it was pretty exciting. The squirrel seemed to love it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,14127,13951],"tags":[4004,15859,970,4226,9802,4142,4286,4620,14129,13931,15860,14128,3826,3827,15824,14132,14133,13966],"class_list":["post-135783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-fox-squirrels","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-antler","tag-autumn","tag-behavior","tag-chewing","tag-close-up","tag-eating","tag-fall","tag-fox-squirrel","tag-garden","tag-gnawing","tag-sciurus-niger","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-suburban","tag-tree-squirrel","tag-tree-squirrels","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-gnawing-antler-mia-mcpherson-8943.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-zk3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":114292,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/11\/standing-fox-squirrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":135783,"position":0},"title":"Standing Fox Squirrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This Fox Squirrel was one of the four squirrels my dear friend and wildlife photographer, Steve Creek, had living in his yard at his home in Arkansas.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Standing Fox Squirrel adult, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fox-squirrel-standing-up-mia-mcpherson-5639.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fox-squirrel-standing-up-mia-mcpherson-5639.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fox-squirrel-standing-up-mia-mcpherson-5639.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fox-squirrel-standing-up-mia-mcpherson-5639.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131743,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/03\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns\/","url_meta":{"origin":135783,"position":1},"title":"Fox Squirrel Eating Acorns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Because of cloudy then scorching hot weather, I didn't get out to photograph yesterday morning. But the day before, I focused on a Fox Squirrel eating acorns.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Fox Squirrel in an oak tree eating acorns, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135902,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/23\/adult-american-robin-on-a-shed-deer-antler\/","url_meta":{"origin":135783,"position":2},"title":"Adult American Robin On A Shed Deer Antler","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a quick post this morning about an American Robin perched on a shed deer antler. These robin photos were taken in low light around 8 a.m. yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin on a shed deer antler, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/american-robin-adult-shed-antler-mia-mcpherson-0485.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/american-robin-adult-shed-antler-mia-mcpherson-0485.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/american-robin-adult-shed-antler-mia-mcpherson-0485.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/american-robin-adult-shed-antler-mia-mcpherson-0485.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139092,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/30\/snowy-fox-squirrel-images-from-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":135783,"position":3},"title":"Snowy Fox Squirrel Images From Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"During the snowstorm earlier this month here in Arkansas, I didn't just photograph birds in the snow, I also took a few photos of Fox Squirrels in the snow too.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox Squirrel running in snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135998,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/27\/young-fox-squirrel-photo-and-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":135783,"position":4},"title":"Young Fox Squirrel Photo And Video","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was outside yesterday, I watched and photographed a young Fox Squirrel slowly climb down from an oak tree and run across a thick layer of pine straw.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Fox Squirrel running to a birdbath, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137672,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/04\/fox-squirrel-close-up-in-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":135783,"position":5},"title":"Fox Squirrel Close Up In Fall","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven\u2019t been seeing many squirrels since the temps started dropping below freezing at night. When this Fox Squirrel showed up, I was happy to photograph them.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fall Fox Squirrel close up, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/fox-squirrel-close-up-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-5449.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/fox-squirrel-close-up-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-5449.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/fox-squirrel-close-up-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-5449.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/fox-squirrel-close-up-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-5449.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}