Squirrels

A fun family day at the park is filled with laughter, picnics, tossing a ball around, and invariably an appearance by some little fuzzy creatures. We watch the cute squirrels playfully chasing each other and stuffing their cheeks with acorns and pinecones. They even have their day, National Squirrel Appreciation Day, on January 21st. When they get into our homes and businesses, the scene is usually not so serene. They have appeared in the top 100 list worldwide of most invasive species, coming at #85, and in Texas A & M’s list of top 10 pests to destroy your home.

While these lists are new, the issues they have caused go back over 250 years. In 1749, bounties were paid for gray squirrels, about 640,000. They were re-introduced. In 1847, Philadelphia was the first city to release them publicly. By the mid-19th century, their sight had become rare and ruralized public parks.

In 1722, Benjamin Franklin wrote a tribute to Mungo, a friend’s pet squirrel that died, and by the mid-1800s, they were being sold in pet shops and were one of America’s favorite pets. In today’s terms, the industry generated about 70 billion dollars. They are brilliant and frustrate many homeowners and their attempts to keep squirrels out of birdfeeders, but how smart are they? A squirrel-like test based on their storage ability was devised and given to 5th graders in the form of a game, and the kids failed it pretty severely. The squirrels passed with flying colors.

They bury around ten thousand nuts a year in many locations and can retrieve them, even under a foot of snow. That is pretty impressive, but what happens if they feel they are being watched is more so. They go through the process of digging a hole, appear to be burying nuts, cover them with dirt or grass and pat it down tight, all the while they are hiding them in their pouches. If this sounds like a bit of paranoia, well, science agrees. A 2010 study showed they practice paranoid or deceptive behavior.