Squirrels have long been associated with acorns and other nuts, but a truly wild (ha) discovery was made by researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire this month when they found evidence of the furry animals tucking into voles – suggesting ground squirrels may actually be carnivorous.
The scientists spotted squirrels hunting, killing and/or consuming the animals between 10 June and 30 July this year, both during formal observations of the squirrels’ behaviour, and on days where they were trapping and marking squirrels before releasing them.
Out of 74 observed interactions with voles between June and July, 42 per cent concerned active hunting of the animals by ground squirrels.
Jennifer E. Smith, UW-Eau Claire associate professor and lead author of the study, said: “This was shocking. We had never seen this behaviour before.
“Squirrels are one of the most familiar animals to people. We see them right outside our windows; we interact with them regularly.
“Yet here’s this never-before-encountered-in-science behaviour that sheds light on the fact that there’s so much more to learn about the natural history of the world around us.”
– YouTubewww.youtube.com
In remarks which could well serve as great promo for The Scurry (an actual comedy-horror about killer squirrels announced earlier this year and set to star Rhys Ifaans and Paapa Essiedu), fellow researcher Sonja Wild of UC Davis said: “I could barely believe my eyes. From then, we saw that behaviour almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.”
Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all…
While concluding that the squirrel may be “best characterised as an opportunistic carnivore, rather than a granivore” (animals which feed on seeds), the researchers also state that an “outstanding question” is whether the squirrels in California are “genetically predisposed to engage in hunting behaviour when the opportunity presents itself or if hunting is socially learned”.
Other unanswered questions concern “how widespread the hunting behaviour is among squirrels” and whether it is “passed down from parent to pup” – and if so, how.
The study has been published in the Journal of Ethology and is available to read for free online, if you’re curious…
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