WEBVTT - From the Vault: Squirrels, Part 1 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:07.600 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.760 is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:13.360 Time to go into the vault. This time a creature 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.720 of deadly renowned dwells within. Uh. We we're revisiting our 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.159 exploration of the skug. That's that's that's right. This is 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:24.080 part one of our look at squirrels. This was These 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:29.360 were delightful episodes, very popular episodes. We still on our 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.519 our Facebook group stuff to Blow your Mind discussion module. 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.360 We still hear from people like like on a weekly, 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:39.239 almost daily basis, anytime there's anything squirrel related. Um, you 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.279 know that that's what people post. And it's still delightful 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.400 and I still enjoy squirrels. I'm I'm still writing the 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.080 squirrel high from having you know, helped research and record 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:54.440 these episodes totally. Uh. This episode originally aired August and 0:00:54.520 --> 0:01:00.640 we hope you enjoy it. Welcome to to Blow your 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:09.520 Mind from how Stuffworks dot com. Hey, you welcome to 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:11.680 Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.000 and I'm Joe McCormick. And Robert, I got a question 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.800 for you. Give me with it. What wild animal do 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:22.120 you most associate with American founding icon Benjamin Franklin's Gonna 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:23.959 Be the Turkey, had that whole song about it, right 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:26.679 in seventeen seventy six. Oh yeah, were you in seventeen 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:30.600 seventy six? Did you play Ben Franklin? I played Thomas Jefferson. Okay, 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:35.080 community theater performance of it. Yes, that's that's who I was. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.080 But you got to be the boring guy without a 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.680 sense of humor, yes, but with with bright red hair. 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.800 That was the main appeal. And U. Ben Franklin was 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.720 played by a local attorney named Ray Frele Ray Freely, 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.560 Ray f He did wonderful job. So I'm glad I 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.440 had the part I had. I was more suited for 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.000 just red haired and kind of boring. Uh. You know 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:02.760 Jimmy Jefferson, Timmy Timmy. Yeah, he is kind of a 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.080 Timmy and that isn't he? He like he? There are 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.000 scenes where he plays the violin. Right did you play 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:09.760 the violin? Oh gosh, I don't remember. I remember scenes 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:13.480 where I had pretending to write in what paper? Okay, Uh, sorry, 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.080 we got sidetracked here, But there is a song in 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.000 there where Benjamin Franklin he suggests that the u S 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.720 National birds should not be the should not be the eagle, 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:23.360 and should not be the dove, but should be the 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.720 turkey because it is a most majestic bird. And I've 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.480 found no evidence that Franklin actually suggested that the national 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.480 birds should be the turkey. But Franklin was all about 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.000 some turkeys. Especially it was all about killing turkeys, and 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.280 especially it was all about killing turkeys with his favorite 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:42.720 technological toys, the Layden jar. Uh. We we've talked before 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:45.040 in our episodes about the early days of electricity about 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.600 that that barbecue Franklin hosted where he wanted to kill 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.600 turkeys with with electrical shocks and then roast them with 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:56.200 an electrical jack and then uh and and I guess 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.960 I don't know, char their skin with electrical fire from 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.440 a bottle. It was a rousing affair, I'm sure because 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.160 Franklin actually ended up electrocuting or not electrocuting, but he 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:08.760 shocked himself very badly. See why isn't this our Thanksgiving 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.880 tradition should be a big turkey electrocution every year? Wait, 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.000 a lot of people use electric stoves. I guess that's 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:17.799 kind of closed, but it's not quite as a shocking right, 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.560 you should be getting the jumper cables and going out 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.880 to the yard with a gobbler. Yeah, no, pardon for you, 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:26.840 all right. So if the if the turkey wasn't his 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.000 favorite animal, what pray tell? Was it? Well? Who knows 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.000 if it was actually his favorite animal. But the animal 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:35.760 I now most associate with Ben Franklin is the squirrel, 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:40.840 because Robert, did you know that Benjamin Franklin carried a 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:44.560 squirrel across the ocean to Europe? No? I did not 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.760 know about this. He had a pet squirrel named Mungo. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:50.720 And yes, this is all true. Benjamin Franklin had a 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.000 pet squirrel named Mungo that he kept in a cage. 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.440 They got killed by a dog named Ranger there. And 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:00.360 he wrote a letter to Georgiana Shipley in seventeen seventy 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.120 two where where he said, I lament with you most 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.520 sincerely the unfortunate end of poor Mungo. Few squirrels were 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.680 better accomplished, for he had had a good education, had 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.920 traveled far and seen much of the world. In other words, 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:15.920 I I put it, put him in a cage and 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:20.640 carried him. I don't know an oceanic journey. There's some 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:22.960 ironies in this story that we can tease out in 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.680 the second. In fact, Benjamin Franklin wrote a poem of 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:29.000 lament is like an elegy for poor Mango. I wonder 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:31.200 if we should do a reading of this poem for Mango. 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:32.880 What do you think? Why don't really have a good 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.040 Benjamin Franklin voice? Neither do I, But I can give 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:40.039 it a shot. Alas poor Mungo, happy wort, Thou hatst 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:44.239 thou known thy own felicity. Remote from the fierce, bald 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.279 eagle tyrant of thy native woods, Thou hadst not to 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:52.320 fear from his piercing talents, nor from the murdering gun 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:57.480 of the thoughtless sportsman. Safe in his wired castle. Grim 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.760 all can never could annoy the grim. Balkan, of course, 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:03.560 is the which is familiar the cat from Macbeth. I 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.120 think it is also just a word for a cat. 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:10.600 But yeah, so continues daily worth. Thou fed with choicest 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.000 viands by the fair hand of an indulgent mistress, but 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.839 discontented Thou wouldst have more freedom too soon, alas didst 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:23.040 thou obtain it, and wandering fell by the merciless fangs 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:27.920 of wanton cruel ranger learned hints ye who blindly wish 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:32.919 for more liberty, whether subjects, sons, squirrels, or daughters, that 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:38.440 apparent restraint maybe real protection, yielding peace plenty and security. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.600 You see how much more decent and proper this broken style, 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.440 interrupted as it were, with size, is for the occasion 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.640 than if one were to say, by way of epitaph, 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.520 here scug lie snug as a bug in a rug. 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.400 Scug is an antiquated word for squirrel. I bet you 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:00.280 didn't know that one either. I didn't. By you know, 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:02.480 I feel like a lot of people by by the 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.840 time we're done with the special two part exploration of 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.240 the squirrel, I think some people are going to adopt 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:13.920 skug as an appropriate a bit of terminology for these 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:18.279 strange furry creatures that for many obviously fill our backyards 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.360 in our lives. Robert, I am so excited to talk 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.479 about squirrels for two whole episodes because I would never 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.880 have imagined there were two episodes worth of startling squirrel knowledge, 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.279 and oh boy, is there? Yeah, there is. But before 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:34.920 anybody and it thinks I'll skip the squirrels, No, no no, no, no, 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:38.360 stick with the squirrels, because some of this information is shocking. 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.919 It will change the way you see the squirrel. The 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:47.040 squirrels are not what they seem. You're right about that, 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.040 they are not. Yeah, this is not just gonna be 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:53.040 like two episodes of squirrel minutia. This is gonna be 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:57.400 episodes that redefine what these animals are and what they 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.960 are up to in your immediate and ironment. They may 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.360 shake your faith in the goodness of the world around you, right, 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.520 you know. Well, one thing that that I've I've noticed 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.040 about the squirrel is it, of course, for many of us, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.320 the squirrels everywhere, Like like, how often do you see squirrels, Joe, Yeah, 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.840 you see them more than any non human animal who 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.120 is not your pet, probably, I mean, depending on where 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.600 you live. But at least we we do. Yeah, Like 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.400 with us, they're constantly scaring around our yard and on 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.040 our fence. We have a number of bird feeders that 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.400 we that that my family we like to we're having 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.080 breakfast or dinner together, we like to watch the birds 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:33.480 out there, and of course the squirrels come. You can't 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:36.200 keep squirrels away from a bird feeder in the same 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:37.960 way you can't keep squirrels out of out of a 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.600 garden you can try, but they are tenacious. They have 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:46.920 an insatiable mammalian quality, a mammalian vitality that the birds 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.160 just do not have. Even though we we love birds 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.280 and we've explored you know, when when you put a 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:55.080 bird feeder out, you wonder why the squirrels always seem 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.000 to take it over, And it does seem to have 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:01.120 something to do with their mammalian craftiness. And that's despite 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.600 the fact that birds are often craftier than we expect. Yeah, 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:06.760 I mean it is. I I root for the birds, 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.200 though when the birds drive the squirrels away, but then 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:10.880 the squirrels are just going to get in there and 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:15.320 also have their their meal as well. Um. Another thing 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:17.760 that I always noticed about the squirrels is that, yeah, 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.000 for for many of us, we we barely noticed that 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:23.040 notice them anymore, and we're certainly not really we don't 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.880 get hung up over their cuteness. Though they do have 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.360 like large kind of cute eyes, yes, and they have 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.400 big fluffy tails. They're not a chipmunk. A chipmunk is 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:35.959 I think, objectively cute, whereas the squirrel is a little 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.360 larger and a little more grotesque and a little more 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.520 like a tree rat. There's a reason the rescue rangers 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.400 are not squirrels, and they just be less cute that way. 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.040 But but one thing I noticed is that when you 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.760 have people who are not accustomed to squirrel suddenly encountering them, 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.480 tourists from Afar, they'll they're just totally won over by 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.000 these scurring creatures and they're pointing at them, and then 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.720 of course they they may give in to the temptation 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:01.920 to feed them. Which means if you go to a 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.200 place like the Grand Canyon, where you know you have 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:07.360 you have tourist from around the world coming to to 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:13.160 see this natural um landscape that's just truly inspiring uh 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.480 scene to behold. People are also gonna encounter the squirrels. 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.000 They're gonna end up beating the squirrels, even though everyone 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.720 tells them not to. And then you have situations like 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:23.680 the one my wife and I encountered on a hike 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:27.280 into the Grand Canyon where we set down for a second, 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.240 we're gonna share some some snack mix, and then the 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.800 squirrel comes and the squirrel starts climbing on us on 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.480 our bodies to get to the snack mix. Because it's 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.960 become so accustomed to eating food given to it by humans. Uh. 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.200 It was just absolutely terrifying, especially when you watch like 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.959 the fleet jump off of its nose. It's only a 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.760 matter of time until they can pull a switchblade on you, exactly. 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:51.960 They're like, they're they are tenacious and you should and 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.840 you feed them at your apparel, especially if they're there. 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.640 There are lots of drop offs that you could plummet from. 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.600 And that's not even getting into disease issues. I apologize 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.680 it was ranting a little bit. Oh no, no, please 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.719 rant on. I've been ranting about them a bit as 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.800 my family watches the bird feeder as well, to the 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.880 point that my my son told me recently. He's he's 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.959 six years old, and he he said, actually, Dad, uh, 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.560 the squirrel is the king of the rats, which, um, well, 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.320 I disagree with. I think the rats are truly the 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:25.960 king of the rats. They've earned that that reputation, and 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.080 they've earned that crown. Yet at the same time, yes, 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:33.040 squirrels are incredibly good rats in many respects. Well, there 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.959 are many respects throughout especially mythology, but in human history, 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.080 where there is some correlation between level of authority and 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.760 physical altitude and so If the squirrels are in the 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.560 trees above the rats, that would seem to signal that 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.520 they are the lords of the rat world, and the 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.960 rats on the ground below must do their biddings right. 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.600 They have the height advantage. The squirrels are the wizards 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.880 up in their ivory towers, and the rats are the 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.520 peasants that, you know, thank you Lord, kind of guys 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.160 who go out and do what they're told. But yet 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.000 there is an honesty in the rat. We look at 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.480 the rat, and sometimes we judge the rat too harshly, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:08.400 It's true, But when you look at a rat and 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.520 you know what the rat does. The squirrel, however, as 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.800 we will explore in these episodes, the squirrel is not 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.240 what it seems. The squirrel has managed to to pull 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.800 one over on us. So by now you may be going, Okay, 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.520 what is the secret squirrel knowledge? I've been I want 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.360 the squirrel noses let me into this religion. So I 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.840 guess we should pave the way to divulge that knowledge. 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:32.880 So let's enter the kingdom of the skugs. So what 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.280 are what is a good skug? What what is a skug? 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:39.319 At its most basic nature? Squirrels are a family of rodents. Specifically, 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.960 they comprise the taxonomic family Scura day and that includes 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.400 ground squirrels, tree squirrels, marmots, chipmunks, flying squirrels, and a 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:52.199 few other varieties. This also includes the so called oriental 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:56.320 giant squirrels, the black giant squirrel, the Indian giant squirrel, 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:00.520 the grizzled giant squirrel that's real grizzled yea, and the 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:05.319 likely extinct cream colored giant squirrel. Many additional varieties roamed 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.640 in prehistoric times. Uh and plus this family also includes 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.000 groundhogs and prairie dogs. But when most people refer to squirrels, 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.400 they're probably gonna be talking about common varieties, most often 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.160 of the tree squirrel and the ground squirrel. And so 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:20.439 these are the varieties we're gonna be talking about most 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.880 in this episode. And so squirrels are found all over 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.440 the world. Their native to every continent except Antarctica in Australia. 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.440 But of course humans tend to take their rodents with 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.640 them where they go. So humans introduced squirrels to Australia 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.440 and now they're everywhere on Earth accept Antarctica. So I 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.000 think maybe we've been burying the lead. We should not Bury, 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:43.839 the lead part one of this two part exploration. One 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:45.960 of the main things you're gonna learn is that you 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.160 have probably been too trusting of squirrels if you were 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.280 like I was. I used to look out at the 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.000 squirrels of my yard and think about them like Benjamin 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:59.080 Franklin's Poor Mungo. This this victim, this poor little victim 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:01.920 creature that could be eaten by a dog and was 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:06.160 a harmless, sweet little herbivore gathering nuts and hiding them 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.439 and just going about a peaceful life without ever bothering 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.680 anybody else. But the fact that blew my mind is 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:17.760 that squirrels are not, in fact strictly herbivores. Some not 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.640 very strictly at all. That's right. And uh, and I 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:25.119 have to say, right before we we actually researched this episode, 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:30.000 I had this revelate revelation as well through the bird 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:31.600 feeders that we put out. Because one of the things 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:33.319 we put out, in addition to you know, a few 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.800 different types of bird seed aimed as particular birds, we 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.400 also put out meal worms, and these dried, dried out 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.920 worms like you would feed chickens, and birds generally love 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.960 them as well. But then we started noticing that the 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.440 squirrels would just eat the ever loving hell out of 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.880 those meal worms. We fill up this little cup, and 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.360 you know, squirrel would come and you know, surreptitiously eat one, 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.800 and you know, grab one, get to a place where 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.840 it could be on the lookout for hawks or whatnot, 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:02.640 and then go down and get another one, and then 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.160 eventually give up on any pretense of looking out for 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:10.120 hawks and just just go face down into a this 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.280 cup of meal worms and just eat absolutely all of them. 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:15.880 And we were a little stounded because we were, like, 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.560 I had we had no idea that that that squirrels 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.840 eat me, But clearly these squirrels really love meal worms. 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:24.920 Well you know, I might not have predicted that, but 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.280 at least meal worms. I look at that, Okay, I'm like, 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.120 it's a worm. I guess maybe a lot of things 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.440 might eat a worm, right, right, I don't know. It's 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:38.160 it's like that's like the cracked corn of the animal kingdom, right, yeah, 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.320 it's there, you eat it. It makes sense, all right. 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:43.680 So maybe they're not strictly herbivores, you know, they're they're 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.160 they're omnivores that will that will eat a worm here 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:50.640 and there, but subsequent reading has has revealed that that 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:55.760 it goes far beyond meal worms. Uh, they'll eat insects, reptiles, birds, 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.760 and mammalian flesh if they get a chance. Gray squirrels 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:04.120 and eastern chipmunks are noted nest raiders. Gray squirrels will 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.280 even eat each other. It seems squirrels are also capable 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:11.560 of killing adult birds. Uh, even the cute chipmunk. Again, 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.760 the objectively cute chipmunk is a natural born killer, as 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:20.600 studies have found meat and upwards of chipmunk survey meat 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:24.040 in them, not just in their bodies like the valley. Now, 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.880 that sounds so crazy. That makes me think, wait a minute, 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.600 are we just dealing with like uh, like urban legend 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.200 kind of observations here. Like I've read stories that I 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:38.080 don't believe about squirrel attacks, like the idea that squirrels 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.520 will will take down deer and kill them. That's right. 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.680 According to a two thousand fourteen Popular Science article, the 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.840 tufted ground squirrel of Borneo is said to wait on 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.480 a low branch for passing deer and then jump out 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.200 onto them and bite the jugular vein, and once the 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.160 deer is bled to death from this bite, the squirrel 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.560 disembowels the deer and eats the contents of the stomach 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.360 as well as the heart and the liver. And I 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.600 do want to just drive home. This is not this 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.320 is far from any kind of a verified observation. This 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.640 is very much seems to be in the realm of 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:12.880 love of urban legends. This account was told by local 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.480 hunters who find the remains of the squirrel slaughtered deer 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:21.240 and then supposed squirrel, supposed alleged squirrel slaughtered deer. And 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.640 then they also attest to the hearts and livers having 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:29.120 been eaten from domestic chickens. Again, uh, fingers pointed at 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.920 the squirrels. This almost reminds me of like the Coppa legend, 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.320 right reaching up through your anus to pull your liver out. Yeah, there, 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.280 there seems to be a lot of making sense. Are 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:44.680 trying to make sense of stranger remains, but by making 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:49.000 several leaps uh in uh in your logic here, as 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:50.800 opposed to saying, well, it was probably some sort of 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.800 scavenger that came into that. No, it was probably a 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:57.600 ferocious and strategically vicious squirrel. Now, on the other hand, 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.720 supposedly these squirrels could I mean, if you happen to 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.280 put your finger in their mouths, say, they could do 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:07.320 some damage. Yeah. In fact, the author of that article, 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.480 Douglas Main, points out that those those squirrels do pack 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.679 quite a fierce bite, and that the giant squirrel Ratufa 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.639 a finnis is known to stalk and prey on birds. Okay, 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:21.359 but the idea of a squirrel attacking and taking down 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:26.080 an adult dear, I don't know. I highly skeptical. I 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.280 don't buy it. It sounds like one of those kind 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.440 of hunter legends. Yeah, it reminds me a lot of 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:36.680 cattle mutilation stories. You know, someone finds again, someone looks 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:38.919 at the remains of an animal. There's something kind of 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:42.400 weird look going on, and so you jump to uh, 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:47.399 totally implausible explanations such as an alien being performed at 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.879 an autopsy in the middle of a cow field, or 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.040 squirrels or hunting impacts. But how much could you really 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.239 learn in the middle of a cow field. I don't know. 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.520 It's it seems like as guided research. I would think 0:17:57.520 --> 0:17:59.840 they would want to remove to some kind of sterile 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.600 environment where they could control all of the autopsy element 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:05.879 I don't know. But but but I don't want to 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.840 lose the track of the The important revelation here, uh, 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.040 that we'll get back to, and that is that squirrels 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.520 do seem to hunt some of the time. Well, we 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.040 will definitely look at more evidence of that in a minute, 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.160 but before we do that, we should look at one 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:24.760 other apparent I don't know, rumor legend, the kind of thing, uh, 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:29.360 this idea that sometimes squirrels will attack and take down dogs. Yes, 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:32.199 I was reading a two thousand five BBC article that 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:38.280 reported that that a local Russian media report had indicated 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.280 that a pack of squirrels bit a stray dog to 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:46.240 death in the city of Lazo. So again local Russian media. 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.479 But here's here's a gym from the story. Quote A 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.639 pine code shortage may have led the squirrels to seek 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:57.119 other food sources, although scientists are skeptical. So in. In fact, 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:02.679 a scientist in the region, one Michael Toof, said that 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:06.960 while attacking a bird's nest for protein was reasonable behavior, 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.399 for to expect of a squirrel chewing a dog to 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.760 death was quote absurd. Uh. In a quote that reads 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:16.080 like something from a horror movie poster, he said, quote 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.480 if it really happened, that things must be pretty bad 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.880 in our forest. I can hear that in the Don 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.359 la Fontaine voice. Yes, things must be pretty bad in 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:28.400 our forest. Wait, that's not Don la Fontaine. Who's that one? 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:30.320 I don't know. I don't really know them by name. 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.520 I'm sorry. I'm sorry to say in a world where 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:37.760 squirrels chew dogs to death, Russian media is the only 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.560 one brave enough to report. But the thing about these 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:44.560 stories is that, yes, I'm I'm not convinced that squirrels 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.639 are killing dear. I'm not convinced that they are taking 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.840 down stray dogs. I I also am skeptical of that. 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.720 I'd wonder though, I mean, maybe if the dog is, like, 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:57.520 I don't know, sick and already almost dead, that might 0:19:57.560 --> 0:19:59.280 be a different kind of thing. I find it hard 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.760 to believe that a pack of squirrels would actually attack 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:06.040 a dog that could move exactly. Yeah. But if you 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.960 but the thing is, you start looking around at different papers, 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:13.080 particularly Journal of Mammalogy papers, mostly from the twentieth century, 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.840 You'll find a number of different papers that look at 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:22.560 carnivorous ground squirrels and carnivorous activity among squirrels. Uh with 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:26.000 titles such as Carnivorous behavior in the Mexican ground squirrel 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.880 or Carnivorous ground squirrels on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, or 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:33.400 food habits of the Antelope ground squirrel in Southern Nevada. 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:37.840 Also the Franklin ground squirrel and its relationship to nesting ducks. 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:44.679 The relationship is not a friendly one. It's complicated. That 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.720 paper Carnivorous ground Squirrels on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska has 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:51.600 some choice descriptions, and it here commentating on some some 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:57.560 previous research by other investigators. Quote. During his excavations at 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.840 the old village site of Kakuliak gated a few miles 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:04.200 at east to the present village of Savunga, he observed 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:08.040 some adult ground squirrels eating the old partially dried and 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:11.919 partially frozen lumps of whale and walrus meat, which we 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:16.280 excavated at an approximate depth of eight feet under the surface. 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:21.520 What eating whale and walrus meat? So they didn't bring 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.159 down these whales, They didn't bring down these walruses, but 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:27.959 they were more than happy to feast on their like 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.080 rubbery dried flesh. Also from that paper, there was a 0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:33.000 part where they were mentioning the work of this previous 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.920 researcher who reported having seen a ground squirrel quote eat 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:39.439 a freshly killed mouse which had been shot by the 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:43.639 teacher's son from Savunga. So you go shooting mice in Alaska. 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:45.600 Who knows what's going to happen. All right, let's go 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.920 ahead and take a break here, and when we come back, 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:51.399 we're going to get into my favorite carnivorous squirrel paper 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:56.480 that I ran across in our research. Thank alright, we're back. 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.240 So before we get into squirrels as predators, I just 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:04.200 wanted to mention another paper I looked at about squirrels 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.560 eating meat, and this was from the Journal of Parasitology 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:11.400 from nineteen fifty six by Raws and other authors called 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:14.520 the occurrence of larvae of trick and Ella spiralis in 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.280 Alaska mammals. So this is a paper looking at the 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.000 prevalence of this parasite of trick and Ella spiralis in 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:22.919