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+--- Thread: Research Carnivorous squirrels documented in California (life styles of the cute and vicious) (/thread-17038.html)
Carnivorous squirrels documented in California (life styles of the cute and vicious) - C C - Dec 19, 2024
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068464
INTRO: A ground squirrel with cheeks stuffed with nuts, seeds or grains, is a common sight. But a new study provides the first evidence that California ground squirrels also hunt, kill and eat voles. The study, led by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and University of California, Davis, is the first to chronicle widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.
Published in the Journal of Ethology, the study fundamentally changes our understanding of ground squirrels. It suggests that what was considered a granivorous species actually is an opportunistic omnivore and more flexible in its diet than was assumed.
The observations occurred in 2024 — the 12th year of the Long-term Behavioral Ecology of California Ground Squirrels Project conducted at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County. Out of 74 observed interactions with voles between June and July, 42% involved active hunting of these small rodents by ground squirrels.
“This was shocking,” said lead author Jennifer E. Smith, an associate professor of biology at UW-Eau Claire who leads the long-term ground squirrels project with Sonja Wild of UC Davis. “We had never seen this behavior 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 behavior that sheds light on the fact that there’s so much more to learn about the natural history of the world around us.”
Wild has observed hundreds of squirrels in nature and yet, even for her, when the undergraduate students came in from field work and told her what they had witnessed, she said, “No, I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” Then she watched the video.
“I could barely believe my eyes,” said Wild, a postdoctoral research fellow in the UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy department. “From then, we saw that behavior almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.” (MORE - details, no ads)
https://youtu.be/lyeoulM_GFk
RE: Carnivorous squirrels documented in California (life styles of the cute and vicious) - confused2 - Dec 22, 2024
When squirrels turn bad..
Quote:Squirrel injures 18 people in two days of attacks in Buckleyhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59819349
Published 29 December 2021
A grey squirrel which attacked and injured 18 people has been captured and put down.
The animal earned itself the nickname Stripe after the vicious character in the film Gremlins.
It started attacking people in Buckley, Flintshire, last week over a two-day period.
This was much to the distress of Corinne Reynolds, 65, who had fed it since March and said it was a "frequent and friendly visitor" to her garden.
Stripe initially came to steal bird food and Mrs Reynolds said: "All those months he's been fine, he would even come and take a nut out of my hand."
But she said he bit her last week as she fed him in her garden, and then she saw reports of other bites and attacks on the town Facebook page.
She added: "After I saw all those pictures of people's injuries, I thought 'oh my goodness, what's happened to him'?"
RE: Carnivorous squirrels documented in California (life styles of the cute and vicious) - C C - Dec 23, 2024
(Dec 22, 2024 01:46 AM)confused2 Wrote: When squirrels turn bad..
Quote:Squirrel injures 18 people in two days of attacks in Buckleyhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59819349
Published 29 December 2021
A grey squirrel which attacked and injured 18 people has been captured and put down.
The animal earned itself the nickname Stripe after the vicious character in the film Gremlins.
It started attacking people in Buckley, Flintshire, last week over a two-day period.
This was much to the distress of Corinne Reynolds, 65, who had fed it since March and said it was a "frequent and friendly visitor" to her garden.
Stripe initially came to steal bird food and Mrs Reynolds said: "All those months he's been fine, he would even come and take a nut out of my hand."
But she said he bit her last week as she fed him in her garden, and then she saw reports of other bites and attacks on the town Facebook page.
She added: "After I saw all those pictures of people's injuries, I thought 'oh my goodness, what's happened to him'?"
"A woman who lives in the same area reported being attacked as she was taking in her recycling boxes, another recounted on social media how she had to have a tetanus jab after being bitten by Stripe."
I would have been getting the rabies vaccine.