Show us your nuts (not for BrotherMan)

[Ymir's blood]

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day!

[BrotherMan]

omb so means

[Ymir's blood]

Squirrel Hater ITT!

Save the squirrels!

[Miisa]

Squirrels are cute, in an evil way.

[livius drusus]

[The Lone Ranger]

(It's a type of ground squirrel, so it counts. No?)

[BrotherMan]

Aw, now I'm reminded of a tragedy I saw just this week. I was driving back from errands and I see a van ahead of me woosh over the body of some animal. When I get closer it's still moving - for a moment I think it's just the air from the van. It wasn't. Poor little Scooter Squirrel had only recently been struck.

Poor Scooter.

[Garnet]

[Ymir's blood]

Originally Posted by BrotherMan

Aw, now I'm reminded of a tragedy I saw just this week. I was driving back from errands and I see a van ahead of me woosh over the body of some animal. When I get closer it's still moving - for a moment I think it's just the air from the van. It wasn't. Poor little Scooter Squirrel had only recently been struck.

Poor Scooter.

[BrotherMan]

I LAMENTED THE DEMISE OF SCOOTER

[Ymir's blood]

Squirrel Hater!

[Qingdai]

How do you feel about squirrel pie?

[Ymir's blood]

[freemonkey]

Originally Posted by BrotherMan

Aw, now I'm reminded of a tragedy I saw just this week. I was driving back from errands and I see a van ahead of me woosh over the body of some animal. When I get closer it's still moving - for a moment I think it's just the air from the van. It wasn't. Poor little Scooter Squirrel had only recently been struck.

Poor Scooter.

I experienced a similar incident a few months ago, it bothered me for days.


thaks for bringing it up, squirrel hater.

[curses]

YouTube- Squirrel Goes Nuts

EDIT: there's a snake in the above video, so, you know, if you hate snakes...

[Ymir's blood]

[Iacchus]

Hey, nice thread!

[chunksmediocrites]

I worked with two young ladies who related how they had discovered an injured squirrel and then had spent hours attempting to catch it so they could get the squirrel medical attention. They spent a long time telling the story and were proud of their efforts on behalf of the bewildered rodent.

I responded by telling them my father-in-law has a rural garden, and he captures invading ground squirrels in live traps, and then drops the trap in a bucket of water, and then throws the body in the burn barrel. At a rate of 20 per year.

Not the response they were looking for.

[Ymir's blood]

[Qingdai]

That's my dad!
Wait, I thought he just did that with rats.

[The Lone Ranger]

The squirrel in curses' video appears to be a California Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi). They're often preyed upon by rattlesnakes, which go down into the squirrels' burrows after them.

The snake in the video appears to be a Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer), and gopher snakes often prey upon the young squirrels.


The squirrels have evolved a number of interesting anti-snake defenses.


If an adult California ground squirrel encounters a gopher snake or other non-venomous snake in its territory, it will viciously attack it, presumably to drive it away. (A gopher snake isn't large-enough to be a serious threat to an adult squirrel.)

Against rattlesnakes, the squirrels use different tactics. Interestingly, adult California ground squirrels have evolved a surprising degree of resistance to rattlesnake venom, and can survive bites that would kill much larger animals. (The squirrels are not immune, however, and if the snake gets a good, solid hit, it's over for the squirrel.)

When an adult squirrel finds a rattlesnake in its territory, a common tactic is to get close to the snake and throw sand or dirt in its face. The squirrel will maneuver to to keep itself just in front of the snake while throwing sand in its fact the whole time. Sooner or later, the snake usually tires of this and leaves.

Another common tactic is for the squirrel to flush blood into its tail and to wave its tail in the rattlesnake's face. Rattlesnakes are pit vipers that can detect infrared radiation (heat), and so can hunt warm-blooded prey in total darkness. By flushing its tail with blood and holding it over itself, the squirrel makes itself appear much larger to the snake, which may discourage the snake and cause it to retreat.


Cheers,

Michael

[BrotherMan]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

When an adult squirrel finds a rattlesnake in its territory, a common tactic is to get close to the snake and throw sand or dirt in its face. The squirrel will maneuver to to keep itself just in front of the snake while throwing sand in its fact the whole time. Sooner or later, the snake usually tires of this and leaves.

The squirrel version of Here's mud in yer eye!?

[chunksmediocrites]

Originally Posted by Ymir's blood

Uh... I look forward to the day when we can live in harmony with our small, furry, arboreal rodent brethren and sistren?
Via the Onion:
I have to admit, I love the nuts

[Doctor X]

--J.D.

[godfry n. glad]

Move along...nothing to see here...no nuts...