Adult size and mass are reached at 9 months. Behavior During the spring, summer and autumn, squirrels have their peak activity times about 2 hours after sunrise and 2-5 hours before sunset. This allows them to avoid the heat of the day. During the winter, they are unimodally diurnal with a peak just 2-4 hours before sunset. Generally, females are more active in the summer months and males are more active in the winter months.
Home ranges are generally larger in the summer.
Home range sizes are negatively correlated with squirrel density. Home ranges are used in the same sequence each day. Squirrels occupy two types of homes, including a permanent tree den as well as a nest of leaves and twigs on a tree crotch 30-45 feet above the ground. Habitat Sciurus carolinensis prefers habitats of mature continuous woodlands of greater than 40 hectares with diverse understory vegetation. They have economic importance in some states, such as Mississippi where 2.5 million are harvested each year with an economic impact of 12.5 million dollars.