The California ground squirrel appears to be innocent. A well-known sight for hikers: the stocky rodent can often be seen happily chewing grass, seeds and berries.
But in keeping with a brand new study published Wednesday within the Journal of EthologyWildlife biologists have documented one ferocious trait of the creature: It is a dedicated carnivore, hunting and feeding on unlucky little voles.
Like a rodent version of the notoriously violent 1969 film “The Wild Bunch,” extensive video footage shot near Contra Costa County Briones Regional Park provides repeated evidence of the ferocity of squirrels.
Squirrels chase the voles, then catch them and beat them until they grow to be a bloody pulp. Like cats, the squirrels sometimes allow the mortally wounded animal to limp away. Then they pounce again. As the vole writhes and clings to life, it bites.
Ground squirrels are known to exist in California is not going to hand over an easy meat meal. Previous investigations found evidence of eaten voles in addition to quail eggs, insects and shellfish.
But the brand new study, conducted by scientists on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and UC Davis, is the primary to record widespread predatory behavior.
“That was shocking,” said the lead writer Jennifer E Smithan associate professor of biology at UW-Eau Claire who co Sonja Wild from UC Davis leads the Long-term project on the behavioral ecology of the California ground squirrel.
“Here is this behavior unprecedented in science that sheds light on the fact that there is so much more to learn about the natural history of the world around us,” she said.
With its rolling, grassy hills and secluded, shady ravines, Briones is a paradise for ground squirrels.
According to Smith, squirrels are quite a few and diverse, and are fascinating because they’ve a bigger and way more complex social structure than other squirrel species.
The behavior of two distinct gopher populations is the main target of research by faculty and students at UC Davis, Wisconsin and other institutions.
Under the name “Team Squirrel,” the researchers track specific animals 12 months after 12 months and collect extensive data concerning the social and biological history of many individual creatures over the course of their lives.
They analyze recordings of alarm calls. They study squirrel feces to learn more about gut health. You will witness exciting clashes between rattlesnakes and squirrels.
In 2024 something unusual happened. There has been an unusual explosion in vole abundance in parts of California.
Voles are defenseless bundles of fur, small and chubby, with short round ears, a round head, and restless energy. They are engineers and dig burrows that transform soil and transport seeds. They are lively day and night and are driven by an infinite appetite and a continuing must feed their offspring. Voles can produce as much as six or seven broods per 12 months.
The researchers learned that scurrying across a meadow in broad daylight was dangerous for voles.
Through videos, photos and direct observations within the regional park, they documented ground squirrels hunting, eating and competing for vole prey between June 10 and July 30. Squirrels' carnivorous summer behavior peaked in the primary two weeks of July, coinciding with an explosion in vole numbers within the park reported by citizen scientists on iNaturalist, a free app that users have used to record hundreds of thousands of observations of untamed animals and plants.
The squirrels seemed bored with hunting other small mammals.
When I watched the video, “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Wild said. “From then on we saw this behavior almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.”
The study changes our understanding of ground squirrels – suggesting that what was considered a grain-eating species is definitely an opportunistic omnivore, researchers say.
Many other species, including raccoons, coyotes and humans, are known to be flexible of their weight loss plan and behavior.
The recent study shows that the California ground squirrel can even reply to a rise in prey availability, in keeping with the study.
“The fact that California ground squirrels are behaviorally flexible and can respond to changes in food availability could help them survive in environments that are rapidly changing due to the presence of humans,” Wild said.
Other questions remain unanswered. For example, it just isn’t known whether hunting behavior is widespread, whether it’s passed from parent to pup, and the way it affects the general ecology of the natural landscape.
Researchers plan to return to Briones next summer to see what impact, if any, this 12 months's vole weight loss plan had on squirrel numbers.
By then, nonetheless, the squirrels could have grow to be another person's dinner. Hungry snakes, weasels, hawks and eagles rely on them for food.
Ground squirrels are predators. But like voles, also they are prey animals.
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