The Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Europe and Asia. It lives in trees and its long tail helps the squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and running along branches. The bushy tail may also keep the animal warm during sleep.
The Red squirrel has sharp curved claws to help it to climb and descend broad tree trunks, thin branches, and even house walls. Its strong hind legs let it leap gaps between trees. The coat of the Red squirrel varies in colour with the time of year and location. There are several coat colour morphs ranging from black to red. Red coats are most common in Great Britain; in other parts of Europe and Asia different coat colours coexist within populations, much like hair colour in some human populations. The underside of the squirrel is always white-cream in colour. The Red squirrel sheds its coat twice a year, switching from a thinner summer coat to a thicker, darker winter coat with noticeably larger ear tufts (a prominent distinguishing feature of this species) between August and November. A lighter, redder overall coat colour, along with the ear tufts (in adults) and smaller size, distinguish the Eurasian red squirrel from the American eastern grey squirrel. The red colour is for camouflage when seen against the bark of pine trees.