Red Squirrels in Belgium: Where to Spot Them and What They Do in Autumn?

A red flash along a tree trunk, a bushy tail disappearing between the branches, a hazelnut dropping to the ground: in autumn you see squirrels more than in any other season. They are busy. A winter store has to be built, and that means searching for nuts, hiding them and hiding them again. Pull on your Forest Floor Hoodie, with mushrooms on the forest floor, and discover where you can see squirrels, what they do in autumn and how you can help them.

The red squirrel: our only native squirrel

In Belgium only one squirrel species lives here naturally: the red squirrel. This is how to recognise it:

• Colour: the coat varies from reddish brown to almost black, always with a white belly. In winter it becomes greyer and darker. So if you see a dark squirrel, it is usually simply a red squirrel.
• Ear tufts: in winter it grows long tufts on its ears, which almost disappear in summer.
• Size: the body is 20 to 28 cm long, plus a tail of 15 to 20 cm.
• Weight: around 250 to 350 grams.
• Age: in the wild a squirrel lives to 3 to 7 years old.

The tail is more than decoration. It helps with balance when jumping, acts as a rudder and, in rain and cold, serves as a kind of blanket.

A squirrel is a wild animal: you may not catch it or keep it as a pet.

What do squirrels do in autumn?

Building a winter store

In autumn, squirrels mainly eat seeds and nuts from trees: hazelnuts, beechnuts, acorns, sweet chestnuts and pine seeds. They also eat buds, berries, insects and even mushrooms.

Whatever they do not eat straight away, they hide. They bury the seeds one by one or a few together in a shallow hole in the ground, or they tuck them into a tree hollow. This is how small stores appear everywhere.

Forgotten nuts become trees

Far from all hidden nuts are found again. That is good news for the forest: new trees grow from the forgotten nuts. This is how squirrels help woodlands renew themselves. Want to know which trees those nuts come from? Read our article on identifying trees by their leaves.

2025: a bumper year for acorns

Autumn 2025 was a mast year for the oaks, a year in which the trees produce exceptionally heavy crops. In Hoge Kempen National Park, millions of kilograms of acorns fell. According to foresters, such mast years are following each other ever more quickly. Nowadays, beeches do this roughly every two years.

A warm nest, but no hibernation

A squirrel builds a ball-shaped nest of twigs about 30 cm across, called a drey, high in a tree. It also uses old woodpecker holes. Inside the nest it is 15 to 20 °C warmer than outside. Often, besides its main nest, it has a few spare nests too.

Squirrels do not hibernate. They are active for shorter periods in winter and like to stay in their nest in bad weather. On mild winter days they come out to eat from their stores. A warm nest for cold days: you will find that idea in the Compass Rose Hoodie too, with a compass framed by mountain lines and a fleece lining.

Where can you see squirrels in Belgium?

The red squirrel occurs throughout Belgium, but mainly in Antwerp province and the north of Limburg. It lives in coniferous, deciduous and mixed woods, but also in parks and gardens in wooded areas.

Good places include:

• the Sonian Forest, with its old beech trees;
• the woods and heaths of the Campine;
• more than 30 nature reserves of Natuurpunt in Flanders where squirrels are regularly seen.

Autumn is the best time, as they are then at their most active. Set out early, walk quietly and look not only up in the trees but also down on the ground: that is where they are often busy hiding food. For the most beautiful autumn forests to walk in, read the 7 most beautiful autumn forests in Belgium.

On a crisp morning in the forest, a warm layer is welcome, such as the Pine Dusk Sweatshirt with a row of pine trees.

Exotic squirrels in Belgium

Alongside the red squirrel, a few exotic species also live here, which were once brought in as pets.

• Siberian chipmunk: the small striped animal you can see in the Sonian Forest is not a red squirrel. The population descends from pets that escaped in the 1970s and is slowly spreading, including to the Ter Kamerenbos. Since 2016 it has been illegal across the EU to keep or trade the species.
• Pallas's squirrel: a population of this Asian squirrel lived in a park in Dadizele. It has been removed through targeted action.
• Grey squirrel: this American species has pushed out the red squirrel in the United Kingdom and Italy. In Belgium there are no established populations. If one is nonetheless seen, it must be caught straight away.

Dangers for squirrels

• Traffic: this is the biggest danger, especially in the mating season from December to February. Natuurpunt received 447 reports of squirrels killed by cars in a single year.
• Fragmentation: in small, isolated woodlots squirrels have to cross roads more often, and populations stay small.
• Cats, dogs and birds of prey: young squirrels in gardens often fall prey to cats and dogs. Among birds of prey, the goshawk is the main enemy.

Squirrel bridges

A simple solution is a squirrel bridge: often a rope stretched high across the road is enough. In Antwerp province, the Groen Kruis project installed 16 tree bridges, including in Deurne, Schoten and Wijnegem. In Brakel, the municipality followed with cameras to see whether squirrels were using the rope bridge over the N8.

How to help squirrels in your garden

• Feeding is fine, especially in winter: unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, walnuts, raisins and beechnuts. Offer variety, because peanuts alone are not healthy.
• Water: put a shallow dish of water on the ground, close to a tree where squirrels come, and change it every day.
• Safe feeding: place the food so cats cannot reach it.
• Trees and shrubs: trees, hedges and wooded links make your garden a safe route.
• Take care when pruning: a bird rescue centre in Brasschaat-Kapellen takes in around a hundred squirrels a year. Many of them arrive after their nest was destroyed during pruning or garden work, or after falling out of a tree in strong wind. So check first whether there is a nest in the tree before you start pruning.

Found a young squirrel?

Young squirrels stay in the nest for the first eight weeks. If you find a young one helpless on the ground, do not try to raise it yourself. Take it to a wildlife rescue centre. Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen coordinates a network of rescue centres that can help you with this.

Frequently asked questions

Do squirrels hibernate?

No. Squirrels stay active all winter, although they are out for shorter periods. They live off the stores they hid in autumn.

Do squirrels find all their nuts again?

No, far from all of them. New trees grow from the forgotten nuts and seeds, so squirrels help woodlands renew themselves.

What is the striped squirrel in the Sonian Forest?

It is a Siberian chipmunk, an exotic species descended from escaped pets. It is not a red squirrel.

For lovers of the autumn forest

Rustling leaves, the smell of mushrooms and a squirrel watching you from a branch: that is what autumn feels like. Discover our forest designs in the Forest collection, such as the Still Roots T-shirt with a mushroom among wildflowers, or the Ember Trail Hoodie with a fox in an autumn forest. Fancy gathering nuts yourself? Then read how to pick sweet chestnuts in Belgium. Shipping is free across the EU from €45 (otherwise €4.99).