The friendly environment brings more and more wild animals to parks and wetlands in downtown Guangzhou. These days, residents have reported seeing some wild squirrels in the Liuhua Lake Park. 

A squirrel climbing up the flowering branches.

A squirrel with a long tail and big eyes. 

"These squirrels run like the wind in the trees. And they seem to like eating the fruits of trees. If you sit silently under the trees for a while, you will see them." two frequent visitors to the park told reporters.

"You just sit here and look at the trees above your head. And where it shakes, it's likely that there are squirrels running around." A visitor said he often lolls around the larches and sees squirrels jumping and rustling in the branches. "These little creatures are so energetic."

A squirrel is eating fruit.

A squirrel is catching a leaf.

According to Hu Huijian, researcher from the Institute of Zoology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences, squirrels prefer fruits, flowers and other sweet foods.Where there are more squirrels, there are more big trees. "Especially in Lingnan area, squirrels tend to eat flowers and fruits of Chinese banyan, Chinese redbud and kapok."

"The presence of squirrels indicates the place has a high-quality environment and the trees at that place are flourishing," Hu explained,

There are mainly two kinds of squirrels in Guangzhou—swinhoe's striped squirrel and red-bellied tree squirrel. The former is smaller, mostly in the trees, while the latter is bigger and likes to move close to the ground, but also often up in the trees to find foods. Therefore, considering the flat ground, big trees, and crowds in Liuhua Lake Park, what visitors encounter are mostly daring red-bellied tree squirrels.

Last year, several owls, which settled down in Liuhua Lake park and gave birth to two lovely baby owls attracted a wave of photography enthusiasts.

Tips: please keep a safe distance when meeting or taking pictures of these cute squirrels in the park.

Author: Ariel

Editor: Wing, Steven, Monica, Jerry

Photo: Liuhua Lake Park, Information Times