https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/squirrels-predators-bay-area-park-19988436.php
The article mentions INat’s role later in the article.
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Gna(w)rly.
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Thank you for the link, that was interesting. It will be interesting to see what happens when the voles population goes down.
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I know red squirrels can be rather vicious and will attack birds and other animals. But, I don’t generally think of squirrels as being predators. I guess they are. I remember the first time I saw an eagle eating carrion–I started thinking of them as glorified vultures. Now I’m going to look at all squirrels a little differently too–small, vicious hunters. :) Thanks for sharing!
Here are a couple more with info about this:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241218132149.htm
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-024-00832-6
This video has graphic scenes of squirrel predation and feeding:
https://youtu.be/lyeoulM_GFk?si=2OLYyLIUYHsbIt5Q
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I think it is about perception and reality. The general perception is squirrels bury the nuts in some tree holes or underground and seems like herbivores. Squirrels feed on flowers and fruits in orchards. I put the question on a Google search, Are squirrel omnivores? Google’s AI says yes.
See, all the time spent researching was a waste. Just ask AI!
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I’ve seen arboreal squirrels taking and eating eggs from birds nest, so I was aware they were omnivores . But, I think the new element here is the predatory behavior - stalking and running down prey, etc. In the video, the behavior is quite cat like, even including “playing” with live prey.
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I have been aware of omnivorous activity in rodents, having watched them feed off bits of meat, as scavengers. It was the hunting that surprised me. Very much like a cat. I’m sure the current generation is teaching their progeny. Whether or not this will continue is a good question
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California ground squirrels are pretty remarkable, it’s cool that we’re finding out more about these common rodents. Their burrows provide a lot of habitat for other animals, like burrowing owls, California tiger salamanders, whipsnakes, etc, and they have a super cool coevolution with rattlesnakes - basically most adults are reistant to the venom and have evolved a series of behaviors to ward off snakes who are going after their pups. From this Bay Nature article (definitely read the whole thing if you have time):
The first squirrel to see an approaching rattler chirps out a snake alarm that is more sporadic and repeated less frequently than the alarm signaling a mammalian predator. The call gets the rest of the colony scanning the ground for a lurking reptile. Squirrels that pick up on the threat bristle their tails and wave them vigorously from side to side. If the reptile is a rattler rather than a gopher snake, the squirrels continue this tail-flagging until their muscles heat up. It’s a message of aggression that a rattlesnake, with two heat-sensitive pit organs on its head, can’t miss: “We know you’re here, so scram!” Owings and his colleagues have shown that the infrared signal often prompts rattlers to shift from predatory to defensive behaviors.
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There is a long-running ecological study in Yukon Territory in Canada. Some years ago (10? 15?) I read about their research that showed that the number one predator on young snowshoe hares in the first 2 weeks of life, was red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). (Sorry, I don’t have a reference). I think that red squirrels are very opportunistic but “vicious”? That’s implying that they have malicious intent. I’ve lived with red squirrels daily for decades – they’re noisy and territorial and we have never-ending battles over fiberglass insulation. But they’re also very intelligent and at the end of the day, they’re just little guys trying to make a living. If that means a high-protein meal now and then, I don’t begrudge them.
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