Unlike the dormice of yesterday’s post, grey squirrels can’t hibernate; their metabolism won’t let them put on enough weight to sleep through the winter.
A squirrel’s survival depends on its agility, speed, and ability to jump, all of which would be impaired if it doubled its weight at the end of the summer, as the dormouse does.
Instead, squirrels build weatherproof nests high in the trees, grow dense winter coats, and cache more than enough food nearby to see them through. They sleep a lot in the winter, sometimes for days if the weather is really bad, but they don’t actually hibernate.
Pictures taken in the park by DKG
More about squirrels here:
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 
Can other animals be right or left handed? My dog seems to be left handed.
I don’t know; I’ll find out for you.
This from http://www.sciencefriday.com:
“But humans aren’t the only members of the animal kingdom that show handedness, or the preference for one hand over the other. Other primates exhibit right-handed or left-handed proclivities, as do animals that don’t technically have hands. For instance, research has shown that some mice are righties while others are southpaws, and that some tree frogs preferentially jump away from predators in one direction over another.”
So it’s not just squirrels and your dog.
Thanks for that!