State’s squirrels spotted hunting and decapitating voles (another member of the rodent family). The study’s leader cited human-caused “climate change” while praising this adaptive dietary flexibility.
Posted by Leslie Eastman
Recent biological research has revealed a shocking shift in the dietary habits of California ground squirrels.
Ground squirrels, which traditionally eat fruits and nuts, have now been observed actively hunting and consuming voles, another member of the rodent family. It is a behavior previously undocumented for this species.
This discovery was part of a long-term study conducted at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, California, as part of the Long-Term Behavioral Ecology of California Ground Squirrels Project.
On one occasion, scientists watched in horror as a squirrel ‘vigorously’ shook its prey while holding it in its mouth.
The observations have suggested that these nut foraging creatures are evolving into carnivorous predators.
‘This was shocking,’ said Dr Jennifer E. Smith, an associate professor of biology at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who led the study.
‘We had never seen this behavior before. Squirrels are one of the most familiar animals to people.’
Researchers have documented killer carnivorous squirrels in California hunting and eating voles:
(Warning: graphic) pic.twitter.com/RbdfHaUHyW
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) December 19, 2024
According to the LA Times, the mad killing skills of the squirrels impressed the research team.
A video released by researchers shows a ground squirrel grabbing a vole by the neck and shaking it — clear predatory behavior meant to quickly kill prey, said Dan Blumstein, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA who studies marmots, a related species of large ground squirrel. In squirrels, most biological dietary factors, such as their teeth and stomachs, are adapted for vegetation such as nuts and seeds, not meat, he said.
Blumstein, before reading the details of the study, thought that the carnivorous behavior might have been isolated to female squirrels desperate for the nutrients needed to feed their young. But according to the study, the behavior was found in male and female squirrels across age groups. They displayed other behavior typically associated with predators: When one squirrel would successfully hunt down prey, another squirrel would sometimes try to steal it.
“I could barely believe my eyes,” Sonja Wild, a postdoctoral research fellow at UC Davis who co-led the project alongside Smith, said in a release. “From then, we saw that behavior almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.”
Of course, the UC Davis study “expert” quickly linked this behavior to environmental change caused by…humans.
Through videos, photos and direct observations at the regional park, the authors documented California ground squirrels of all ages and genders hunting, eating and competing over vole prey between June 10 and July 30.
The squirrels’ carnivorous summer behavior peaked during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with an explosion in vole numbers at the park reported by citizen scientists on iNaturalist. This suggests that the squirrels’ hunting behavior emerged alongside a temporary increase in the availability of prey, the study said. The scientists didn’t observe the squirrels hunting other mammals.
“The fact that California ground squirrels are behaviorally flexible and can respond to changes in food availability might help them persist in environments rapidly changing due to the presence of humans,” Wild said.
The study leader cited human-caused “climate change” while praising this adaptive dietary flexibility.
“In the face of human insults such as climate change and drought, these animals are resilient and have the potential to adapt to live in a changing world,” Smith adds.
If acorn or seeds fall into low supply, for instance, squirrels appear primed to find other sources of protein and nutrients. The less stubborn an animal is about its diet, the better suited it is for survival. Although in this case, the squirrels don’t seem to be motivated by a scarcity of any other food source, per SFGATE, rather, the high population of voles appears to be the reason for their hunting.
Frankly, there is only one conclusion I can draw from the data presented:
Avoid California, where even our squirrels are vicious killers. Our animal welfare agents wouldn’t dare to take them on. pic.twitter.com/AnVbgXhrdC
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) December 21, 2024
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“Undocumented”!
That really only means “never before observed in the wild”
It doesn’t mean this is a new trait developed because of a changing climate.
Only never observed in the wild.
California scientists: “If we didn’t document it, it didn’t happen. And vice versa. So, climate change.”
Need a report documenting scientific idiocy being directly linked to Climate Change😉
Funny back in the 1980’s I was on the road daily in western North Dakota. During those drives I observed ground squirrels eating roadkill, often grasshoppers and occasionally fellow, dead ground squirrel. Never observed them hunting, my guess would be that hunting would not have been off the table. Note to researchers check the literature and get out more often. Also, if it is just observed does not mean it did not happen all along. Side note my observations were during drought and yes to climate change “true believes” drought did happen back then.
Squirrels: Diet, Habits & Other Facts
By Alina Bradford published June 28, 2014
“Many people think that squirrels only eat nuts, but this isn’t true. Squirrels are omnivores, which means they like to eat plants and meat. Squirrels mainly eat fungi, seeds, nuts and fruits, but they will also munch on eggs, small insects, caterpillars, small animals and even young snakes.”
Rodents and other mammals supposedly evolved to become dominant after a dinosaur extinction or two. Now if there were no, or very few, plants growing, but a whole lot of dino carcasses in inventory, I wonder what those proto rats ate… Quite the puzzle.
It’s really not new that squirrels pillage bird’s nests, the smaller one in Germany are known for it.
Merry X-Mas!
Here in Central Oregon it is a well established fact that humans cause ground squirrels (locals call them sage rats) to become cannibalistic. If one is run over by a car (petroleum powered are the most prevalent and evil) the whole clan will gather on the site to clean things up before the crows and magpies arrive.
Often, when cleaning up a pasture with my 22mag, I will see the dead be drug back underground by family members and neighbors. I’m pretty sure this behavior is not about honoring the fallen. In fact, they have to be quick about it because the rifle reports bring in the hawks. They lurk on fence posts and in trees until the shooting stops then jump on the free food.
I don’t judge.
So the science report is merely dis/misinformation.
Show me one out of te mainstream that isn’t 😀
I tried. I failed.
I’ve personally observed chipmunks eating flies and spiders in the back yard.
Tree squirrels are also known to eat small birds that haven’t fledged.
Peanut’s revenge! They’ll be comin’ for Hochul and the other rats, next.
Look out if the Raccoons join up.
It might be a good time for the evolution of land sharks.
The elusive Land Shark in it’s preferred biome would be relatively easy to observe and record. You just need the judges permission to mount cameras pointed at Councils chairs. You could also get video records of Larval Land Sharks with similar recording devices in Law School lecture halls.
The rabbits in Monty Python’s Holy Grail have been spreading their attack methods!
Run away, run away!
Squirrels have the unique advantage of being able to adapt their diets to their environment and feed on both plants and meat. This is known as an omnivorous diet, and it offers plenty of benefits for squirrels.
Are Squirrels Omnivores? (Here’s the TRUTH) – Squirrel University
1 second to refute this nonsense.
Of course. Just like the ozone hole. And ice melting. And coral bleaching. It must all be Climate Change, because we had never seen it before. I mean, we weren’t looking, but we had never seen it.
Did you see that new person at the grocery store? Never seen before. Must be climate change!
Under certain conditions the Great Tit (small bird) will attack sleeping bats and eat their brains.
It’s a very rich food source, and birds are able to learn new traits. Rats are also an omnivore rodent species. Unobserved ? See this link about another squirrel species (from 2019): https://wildlife-damage-management.extension.org/what-do-thirteen-lined-ground-squirrels-eat/
On top: A species can’t just become a predator like that. It also has to be capable of digesting its prey (bones and hair etc…). Even cats have to eat grass to be able to throw up the hair balls they can’t digest. Many so-called herbivorous species need an occasional protein source to complement their diet (other small animals, birds, eggs etc…).
Yes indeed, it’s common amongst many rodents. Most UKers don’t realise cute Sqirry the Squirrel, the grey tree rat, happily raids their blue tit box for eggs and chicks. In difficult times they’ll even have a go at adult birds if they venture close enough.
The crows round here are pretty mean, they dive bomb big dogs
Yes, the crows pretty much run things here on the coast. They put down a couple of stooges to tempt a dog into stalking them, then one circles around behind, just as the dog thinks it’s near enough to pounce, it gets pecked up the backside and jumps out its skin.
Rats and squirrels.. apart from the tail, they look alike..
The tree squirrels have better haircuts than rats, albeit they are just arboreal rats.
Quasi-Cannibal ?
A vole is no squirrel
The main significant word linking the Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County study and the reports of squirrels eating voles is “Nuts”.
With remembrance of the Battle of Ardennes in WWII. Bastogne.
Apologies but I couldn’t resist.
I hope Santa is kind to everyone tomorrow.
The good news here is the statement from the erm.. scientists. “When we started looking for it we saw it every day”
With a bit of luck they will have concluded that observations are more real than computer modelling can ever be. From now on they will hopefully spend more time looking at reality and less time trying to explain their flawed computer model predictions.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.
” …. more time looking at reality etc. …. ”
The pity is that for most of them, if they report what they have seen, they stand a good chance of losing their jobs.
Ask Susan Crockford for example.
Nuts
Nuts have feelings too ya know. Don’t believe me? Just kickem!
Maybe they’ll discover the source of almond milk.
Is this cannibalism or species warfare?
The vastly increasing vole population put environmental stresses at play, competing for food, etc.
Analysis of alternatives.
What’s about mice loving cheese ?
There is a “killer mouse” of Sonoran desert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K9mO5QzOIQ
Google search has been so thoroughly sanitized that a search term “killer mouse” finds mostly exterminators. Long live AI!
“On one occasion, scientists watched in horror …” . I laughed when I read this. These scientists either live in an isolated environment or are pussies. Shit like this happens all over the world.. – Oh, yes, that’s it! It’s the F&%$g climate change. We need to cleanse the scientific community of these moronic, self-flagellating idiots and reprogram their minds.
And I thought the major problem with ground squirrels was sometimes carrying plague.
Tom ==> Ground squirrels — but not likely grey squirrels — in New Mexico and the Four Corners area. Prairie dogs and pack rats as well. Those digging archeology sites there are advised to wear dust masks as the rodent feces dust can be infected. There are human cases almost every year. The government sends biologists to dig and text prairie dogs mounds and pack rat holes for plague — and then poison gases them, I believe.
Northern California too. One time I was exploring lava tubes in Lava Beds NM with a couple friends. We entered an obscure hole in the ground and worked our way down for a few hours. We got to a wide opening onto a trail outside. At the entrance (what was an exit for us) there was a sign: “Do Not Enter — Bubonic Plague”
Hanta virus is more common in New Mexico.
New Mexico leads, but Colorado is in close pursuit! The Four Corners is blessed with both bubonic plague and hantavirus, to go along with the rattlesnakes and killer jackelopes! For an interesting tale of a plague hunter, Tony Hillerman’s short story collection;”The Great Taos Bank Robbery,” is highly recommended. The title story alone is worth the price of admission!
I am a bit mystified by this report. It has long been known that squirrels kill and eat bird eggs and bird nestlings of all types — squirrels are a major threat to birds and bird parents spend a lot of time and effort mobbing squirrels that come too close to their nests.
Maybe it is the”mammal” killing that has biologists in a frenzy — they must all know about the bird issue.
Note that the songbirds are tit-for-tat and happily eat {dead} squirrels as well. Most birds consume meat and fat of dead mammals whenever they get a chance, but particularly during breeding season and winter. You see them on the roadways pecking at roadkill. I hang sheets of deer suet (providing by my sons who hunt) in the trees near our bird feeders and these are reduced to thin webs of connective tissue in short order as the birds eat all the fat.
Squirrels are Rodents — rodents are opportunistic feeders and will eat nearly anything by nature.
So, Watch Out for those Squirrels!
Watch where you sleep! Probably the only thing more dangerous is a flock of chickens that will swallow rodents whole, if they are small enough. 🙂
Maybe someone should investigate the political squirrels in the California legislature, air resources board. costal commission and governs office etc and maybe congress as well(all mostly democrats).
Interesting story. I literally have a lifetime of dealing with ground squirrels,
AKA gophers on our farm/ranch ground. No voles or moles except up
the mountain pastures where there are very few gophers. Also had some prairie
dogs in the valley. Can’t say I’ve ever seen any sign of cannibalism of any kind.
A handfull of columbian ground squirrels will eat as much alfalfa as a cow
before they go into summer hibernation. My dad used to send my brother and I out
with 22rf rifles to thin them out which we did. In later years when I was out on my
own place I would spend a lot of time doing the same every year. The badgers would
come in to work the gopher colonys leaving some huge holes where they would dig them
up. I hit a badger hole baling hay one nite and ended up bailing the needles on the baler which
sucked. I tried everything, smoke bombs flooding via flood irrigation later with sprinklers and
and a hose. Also used connibear traps with wood box covers which works but takes a lot of
time but I would freeze the catches and use them for predator trap bait on our fiber flocks from
coyotes. Finally saw a homemade thing called a gopher gasser which I copied and got rid of
them in the hay fields, I haven’t had to use it for quite a few years. I could clean up 20 acres in
a day with that thing. The ground squirrel in CA must be a lot different than here in the northern rockies.
It’s California so they’re probably trans.
Before I was born there were multiple colonies of grey squirrels on the farm. My dad and grandfather went on an extermination hunt and over several weeks killed every squirrel in the area. 20 years later when the farm was sold it was still a rare sight to see one running around. Takes a good long while for a population to re establish itself. Gophers were a different story, kept the population in check but could never get it to zero.We used a 30-06 on the gophers, don’t have to wait for them to pop out their heads like you do with a .22 as you can shoot through the mound of dirt and blow them out of the hole.
We have the Columbian Ground squirrel down in the valley and up in the high country the smaller Robinson variety. The ground in the valley has a heavy layer of top soil so
some producers would hire a local with a 200+ HP 4×4 tractor and break the subsoil with
30 in rippers and that will thin out the GS’s well and help break up the hard pan
for hay production. No till production is now favored so I haven’t seen much deep till
used for years.
Up in the mountains that can’t be used, One of the issues with these burrowing
rodents is they attract rattlesnakes which will feed on them and use their burrows. This
is often on pasture ground and the cows and sometimes horses get bit on the nose
by a “buzz worm” and die. When a Ag producer looses a dollar it’s said they need
to make $7 back up just to break even off of that loss. Losing a $1,500 cow or a $5,000
horse is a serious financial loss for these guys.
I have a collection of rifles that I use for long range shooting in .223. I hand load with a progressive press and am serious about accuracy. I know some producers in the area that like it when I show up for a weekend. They’ve offered to buy all the ammo I shoot but I’ve never taken anything.
I also have thermal night vision but that’s for a different kind of varmint’s usually this time of year when the pelts are prime.
A new version of The Hunger Games?
Never seen before so must be climate change
“Like purple cows and flying pigs, the black swan was a symbol of what was impossible. In medieval Europe, unicorns had more credibility. Dutch navigator Willem de Vlamingh, by finding black swans in Western Australia in 1697, showed how risky it is to declare something impossible.”
Lots of things are impossible, until they aren’t
So Soylent Green will be ok?