ABOVE: Prevost’s Squirrel Callosciurus prevosti gnawing at tree bark next to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve cabins in Sabah. The blue arrow shows old damage to the tree whilst the red arrow shows a current gnawing patch.
This photo was taken just before the photo above and shows that the squirrel is about to gnaw open an old wound, just below the paw on the left.Prevost’s Squirrels mainly feed on ripe fruit but they frequently damage trees by gnawing through the bark to reach the cambium below the bark. The cambium contains the phloem vessels which transport sugar rich sap from the leaves to the roots.The Prevost’s Squirrels in Sabah look very different from those south of the Sabah border. Some of the Sabah squirrels have a faint white and a black line between the belly and the back. South of the Sabah border this thin white line becomes much more prominent.
