WEBVTT - How Do Red Squirrels Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren fog Obam. Here. The American red squirrel comes,

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<v Speaker 1>as advertised, somewhat found in the Rocky Mountains parts of Alaska,

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<v Speaker 1>southern and central Canada, the Great Lakes region, and the

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<v Speaker 1>northeastern United States. This rodent is as American and Canadian

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<v Speaker 1>as it gets. True to its common name. The animal

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<v Speaker 1>does have some rusty red fur. Yet the American red

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<v Speaker 1>squirrel does certain things that may surprise you. We're talking

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<v Speaker 1>nest rating, bird eating and premeditated infanticide. It's a squirrel

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<v Speaker 1>eat squirrel world out there. Zoologists have tallied up more

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<v Speaker 1>than two hundred distinct squirrel species, from the African pygmy

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<v Speaker 1>squirrel to the Indian giant squirrel. If you live in

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<v Speaker 1>the eastern or midwestern United States, then you're probably most

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<v Speaker 1>familiar with the Eastern gray squirrel. Both Kentucky and North

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<v Speaker 1>Carolina recognize the Eastern gray as their official state mammal.

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<v Speaker 1>While all white and all black individuals aren't unheard of

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<v Speaker 1>in the Eastern Gray, these squirrels tend to be grayford

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<v Speaker 1>with light underbellies. Contrast this with the American red squirrel

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<v Speaker 1>it's got a light underbelly as well, but we think

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<v Speaker 1>you'll agree that the backside is more vibrant. Red brown

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<v Speaker 1>to red gray fur covers the head, tail, and back,

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<v Speaker 1>along with most of the available skin on all four legs.

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<v Speaker 1>You might notice black stripes running down each flank. When present,

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<v Speaker 1>these lines form a boundary between some of the darker

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<v Speaker 1>hairs on top and lighter ones coating the belly. Like

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<v Speaker 1>the Eastern gray, the American red squirrel has a ring

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<v Speaker 1>of white fur around both eyes. Eastern gray squirrels grow

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<v Speaker 1>to about fifteen to twenty inches that's forty long. American

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<v Speaker 1>reds are about two thirds that size, measuring between eleven

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<v Speaker 1>and fourteen inches that's twenty eight and thirty six centimes

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<v Speaker 1>from twitching snout to bushy tail. But don't mistake the

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<v Speaker 1>American red squirrel for timid little pushover. On the contrary,

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<v Speaker 1>this is one aggressive rodent. Red squirrels are notorious for

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<v Speaker 1>rating bird feeders. In the process, they won't hesitate to

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<v Speaker 1>chase away Eastern grays, but despite their size disadvantage, the

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<v Speaker 1>same species encounters can also get testy. By and large.

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<v Speaker 1>Red squirrels live alone and just nine to eleven weeks old,

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<v Speaker 1>they'll begin to stake out territories covering up to eight

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<v Speaker 1>full acres that's just over three hectors. Not all territories

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<v Speaker 1>are fully private. Red squirrels living in New York State

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<v Speaker 1>have been known to share portions of their stomping grounds

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<v Speaker 1>with their neighbors, and the mother squirrel in poor health

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<v Speaker 1>might surrender some real estate to her offspring. Nevertheless, in

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<v Speaker 1>the vast majority of cases, American red squirrels do not

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<v Speaker 1>tolerate intruders, but like a lot of mammals, the squirrels

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<v Speaker 1>use scents to help mark their territories. Uninvited guests are

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<v Speaker 1>met with a hostile buzzing noise, and sometimes the owner

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<v Speaker 1>of the turf will shake its tail and stamp its

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<v Speaker 1>feet to make itself moretening. The squirrels are quite vocal

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<v Speaker 1>around predators, too. Barks and other sounds act as alarm

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<v Speaker 1>calls raised when they see a dangerous carnivore, and they

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<v Speaker 1>have enemies to spare. Foxes, wolves, weasels, lynx, coyotes, crows,

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<v Speaker 1>birds of prey, and timber Rattlesnakes all hunt this squirrel

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<v Speaker 1>in the wild. Granted, red squirrels do their fair share

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<v Speaker 1>of hunting as well. Young birds sometimes fall prey to

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<v Speaker 1>the tree climbing rodents, as do unhatched bird eggs and insects.

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<v Speaker 1>A red squirrels will devour baby snowshoe hares when the

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<v Speaker 1>chance arises, but they're omnivores. Mushrooms are a favorite treats.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes these require a bit of prep work. Red squirrels

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<v Speaker 1>have been known to pluck mushrooms at ground level and

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<v Speaker 1>then hang them out to dry on tree branches before

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<v Speaker 1>chowing down sap. Tree bark, fruits and flowers also factor

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<v Speaker 1>into the red squirrel's diet. However, seeds are their main

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<v Speaker 1>source of food. The species typically lives in coniferous and

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<v Speaker 1>deciduous forests. In such places, it's easy to find conifer

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<v Speaker 1>cones loaded with rodent friendly seeds, so the red squirrels

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<v Speaker 1>living there tend to keep lots of these cones in

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<v Speaker 1>storage spots called middens. A midden can take the form

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<v Speaker 1>of an underground hiding spot or a heap of cones

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<v Speaker 1>lying beside a tree trunk. American red squirrels are both

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<v Speaker 1>a blessing and a curse for the trees that sustain them.

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<v Speaker 1>In the negative column, they can cause serious damage to

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<v Speaker 1>trees by stripping their bark away. Over harvesting cones is

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<v Speaker 1>another potential problem, and yet the squirrels are also really

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<v Speaker 1>good at spreading those cones around. They don't always recover

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<v Speaker 1>middens after building them up, which leaves the cone seeds

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<v Speaker 1>to germinate and grow. Food Caches are a winter time

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<v Speaker 1>necessity for many American red squirrels, as the species does

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<v Speaker 1>not hibernate, but ironically, bountiful harvests can spell doom for

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<v Speaker 1>newborn red squirrels. White spruce trees produce a greater than

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<v Speaker 1>average number of cones in certain years, which botanists call

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<v Speaker 1>mast heere. During a masked year, female red squirrels are

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to have two litters of pups instead of

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<v Speaker 1>just one, which gives male squirrels a horrifying opportunity. In

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<v Speaker 1>the journal Ecology published a study documenting sexually selected infanticide

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<v Speaker 1>in American red squirrels early one masked. Here, the authors

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<v Speaker 1>observed several wild males slaughtering newborns fathered by their rivals.

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<v Speaker 1>The tactic is intended to make mother squirrels reproductively available again,

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<v Speaker 1>and it works after a female's first litter is killed,

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<v Speaker 1>the murderous male can move in and sire his own

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<v Speaker 1>pups with her funny how that never came up in

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<v Speaker 1>the old Screwry squirrel cartoons. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the article the American Red squirrel is small, territorial and

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<v Speaker 1>aggressive on how stuffworks dot Com, written by Mark Bancini.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is a production of by Heart Radio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with how stuff works dot Com and is produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit

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