Scientists have found out California squirrels on the ground it is changing dramatically – the animals are becoming more and more fond of animals.
Although the squirrels are known to occasionally eat lizards, new footage has captured many of them hunting, attacking and eating rodents for the first time.
This strange behavior was observed between June 10 and July 30 at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County where cameras recorded 74 interactions between squirrels and voles, which are similar to hamsters.
But more than 32 of these exchanges ended with the squirrel eating his meat.
The predator usually restrained the rodent with its claws and teeth, then bited one of the throats or made a serious bite.
On one occasion, scientists watched in horror as a squirrel ‘vigorously’ shook its prey while holding it in its mouth.
‘This was amazing,’ said Dr Jennifer E. Smith, assistant professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who led the study.
‘We have never seen this behaviour. Squirrels are one of the most familiar animals to humans.’
Squirrels are known to stuff their cheeks with nuts. But scientists have captured stunning images of California squirrels hunting and eating rodents
‘We see them outside our windows; we are in regular contact with them,” continued Dr Smith.
‘But here is a quality of science that has never been encountered before that helps us understand the fact that there is much to learn about the natural history of the world around us.’
The new video adds to the growing body of evidence animals of this species they are turning into wild beasts.
In three recorded hunting trials, the squirrels sat down and kicked their prey.
Nineteen squirrels chased voles across the landscape, often followed by jumping to stop the prey.
Then the squirrels went to kill.
Although they mainly wanted to bite the neck, they sometimes went to other parts of the body, the researchers said.
The squirrels successfully caught and killed the vole 55 percent of the time.
Scientists have captured stunning images of California squirrels hunting, killing, and then eating voles.
Squirrels are often thought of as ‘granivorous’ animals, but these new findings add to the evidence that squirrels are beginning to eat.
Scientists watching squirrels at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County noticed unusual behavior.
The feeding frenzy coincided with an explosion in numbers in the park.
According to the researchers, this shows that their hunting behavior appeared along with a temporary increase in the availability of wild animals.
This flexibility in diet can keep squirrels alive.
Sonja Wild, an ecologist at UC Davis and author of the study, said in a words: ‘The fact that California squirrels are adaptive and can respond to changes in food availability may help them survive in an environment that is rapidly changing due to human presence.’
Although the researchers have been studying squirrels for many years, they were surprised by what they found.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Wild added.
‘We saw that behavior almost every day.
‘Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.’
“This research is fundamentally changing the way we see squirrels, one of the world’s most iconic animals,” lead author Dr Smith said. CNN via email.
Between June 10 and July 30, they were surprised to see California squirrels of all ages, both male and female, hunting, eating, and competing for wild game.
Of the 74 who observed interactions with voles in the center, nearly half (42 percent) involved hunting small rodents and squirrels.
‘In the face of human insults such as climate change and drought, these animals are resilient and able to adapt to a changing world.’
The researchers published their findings in Journal of Ethology.
Although this is the first time that California squirrels have been documented as preying on rodents, previous studies have found evidence that they eat bird eggs, invertebrates, and other species of rabbits, gophers and rodents.
But this research did not find evidence that the squirrels hunted and killed these animals.
Some studies have reported that California squirrels are destroying captive fish, animals, rodents, songbirds and in one case – a large squirrel.
Few studies have found evidence of squirrel species that hunt and kill other animals.
The reports indicated that lizards were caught along the west wall, maggots in the north and possibly a domesticated chicken.
In addition, infanticide – the direct killing of newborns – has also been documented extensively in California ground squirrels.
‘For example, 40 killings of newly hatched squirrels were recorded in four years; “Young people were eaten in at least 22 of these cases,” Wild and co-authors wrote in their report.
Several questions about the new eating habits remain unanswered, according to the researchers.
This includes how the behavior is spreading among squirrels, how and whether it is passed from parent to child, and how it affects natural processes.
But the team plans to return to the park next summer to see if there are any long-term effects on the voles or the squirrels themselves.
