In many parts of the United States , temperatures are falling . This change of season , from summer to autumn , gives Americans many things to watch . Many people travel to areas of the U.S . that are famous for autumn leaves that change into brilliant shades of red , gold and orange . Something else to watch is the antics of squirrels ! Squirrels provide some of the most interesting and entertaining behavior in the natural world . Now , I use the word "antics ," meaning silly or funny games , because that's what it looks like . But I am not being fair to squirrels . They are actually doing something most important -- gathering and storing food for the winter months . The fact that squirrels are doing an important activity , however , makes them no less entertaining to watch . The animals hurry across the ground , digging holes to find food or to find where they buried food . They chase each other around trees . They jump from one tree limb to another , higher and higher up in the tree , looking for nuts and seeds . Sometimes , squirrels drop this food to the ground below , and sometimes they hit people passing by . As I said earlier , this behavior is very entertaining to watch ! These woodland creatures do not stay still for very long . And they are good at collecting things . So , it is not surprising that American English has a couple of expressions with the word “squirrel .” The most common one describes someone who is unusually active and unable to sit still -- much like a squirrel . Another word with the same meaning is restless . When talking about word choice , "restless " may be more common in everyday speech , but "squirrelly " is much more fun ! Let's hear it used in an example . "At the end of a school year , students may get a little squirrelly (restless ) sitting in a classroom . It's best to let them run around outside during the day ." So , the word you use depends on the feeling you want to create in your sentence . "Squirrelly " can also describe someone who is acting very strange or crazy -- again , like a squirrel . A word that means close to that is eccentric . This meaning of squirrelly may come from the fact that the main food in a squirrel's diet is nuts . In American English , "nuts " is a slang expression for crazy . "At the party , she behaved squirrelly (eccentric ) the whole night -- walking quickly between rooms , hiding in corners and interrupting conversations with high-pitched laughter . She gave everyone a very odd impression ." Finally , the adjective "squirrelly " can describe someone or something that seems to be dishonest . A more commonly used word that means the same thing is shady . Let's hear an example . If something sounds too good to be true -- it probably is ." So , that is the adjective . We also have a very useful expression from the world of squirrels -- to squirrel something away . Okay , so we know that squirrels collect nuts , seeds and other things to eat . Then they hide them away to survive winter weather , when food is hard to find . People can do the same thing . When we squirrel something away , we put something in a safe or secret place so that we can use it in the future . When we collect or save things in an unusual , or even unhealthy way , you could use the word hoard . Here's another example . "She has squirreled away (hoarded ) magazines for years . There are stacks and stacks in her attic . I'm not sure what she is saving them for but she won't get rid of them !" The things people squirrel away usually aren't nuts and seeds . We most often squirrel away money for the future . "When he retired he was able to live quite comfortably . He squirreled away over $400,000 in the bank !" But we can squirrel away anything that is important to us and that we want to use later . "She squirreled away her favorite color of wool yarn as if they weren't going to make it any more . She has more than 30 rolls of it in her closet !" But we'll be back next week . It's my custom to squirrel away story ideas for this program . So we'll have a new one then ! Are there squirrels where you live ? If yes , have they inspired any expressions in your language ? It was a fight for survival , that broke out in revival .