Tag Archives: squirrels

Squirrels Lie Like Us

Reporting in the journal Animal Behaviour, the Steele team showed that when squirrels are certain that they are being watched, they will actively seek to deceive the would-be thieves. They’ll dig a hole, pretend to push an acorn in, and then cover it over, all the while keeping the prized seed hidden in their mouth. “Deceptive caching involves some pretty serious decision making,” Dr. Steele said. “It meets the criteria of tactical deception, which previously was thought to only occur in primates.”

And many other squirrel facts of interest in Nut? What Nut? The Squirrel Outwits to Survive.

The Ugly American

Basically a rodent, with a different tail. Flying rodents, that’s all they are. Good for nothing—apart from shooting.

Well, and paté.

Ernie Gordon, children's author, feeds a red squirrel

Some people may find this equally true of red squirrels, but red squirrels have acquired a groundswell of support in the wake of their endangerment from aggression and squirrelpox thanks to the gray squirrel, a Victorian import from North America. Britain has adopted a policy of working to stem the tide of gray squirrels—which dramatically outnumber red squirrels, and have completely displaced the reds in most of England—hoping that control will enable the reds to bounce back as they slowly develop resistance to squirrelpox.

Watch Nutkin’s Last Stand, a POV documentary.