TIL that squirrels plant thousands of trees per year simply by forgetting where they hid their nuts!
And that is just in the United States! It is estimated that millions of trees are planted world wide each year by squirrels accidentally forgetting where they hid their nuts!
Squirrels spend most of their life foraging for food. They climb trees and scan the forest floors in search of nuts and seeds. They hide most of these seeds and nuts in order to store them for later and also to make sure they have enough food to eat during winter when food is much more scarce.
Unlike some birds, squirrels do not have a "mental map" that helps them remember where they bury their stored food. Instead they rely on a strong sense of smell to help them locate buried food. As you can imagine some buried food gets missed. Birds that tend to store food rely on memory to locate their stored food as they do not have a strong sense of smell.
Birds have also been known to "spy" on squirrels and watch where they bury their nuts in order to dig them up later and steal them. Squirrels, however, have become wise and adapted to this as they have been known to do "fake burials" of nuts in order to trick the birds. The birds then dig up several empty sites and soon give up on stealing the squirrel's stash.
These fake burials, stolen food, and forgotten storage locations are what often turn into trees later on...
A couple other interesting facts about squirrels:
- Squirrels can smell food under a foot of snow.
- Their front teeth never stop growing.
- Newborn squirrels are born blind.
- Squirrels may lose up to 50% of their buried food to thieves.
- Squirrels pack on weight to stay warm during the winter.
- Squirrels will adopt a baby squirrel as their own if they find one that is abandoned.
So the next time you hear the question, "who is going to save the forests?" You can proudly answer... "squirrels will!" :)
For more information on squirrels, be sure to visit:
https://www.squirrelsatthefeeder.com/squirrels/
Live well my friends!
Sources:
http://www.boredpanda.com/happy-animal-facts/
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20131016125207AAeOUq5
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/10-nutty-facts-to-make-you-appreciate-squirrels/
https://www.squirrelsatthefeeder.com/squirrels/
Image Sources:
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/10-nutty-facts-to-make-you-appreciate-squirrels/
http://www.boredpanda.com/happy-animal-facts/
Follow: @jrcornel
Wow thats nuts. ... cwidt
Haha yes I did! :)
Around my house, I have 5 varieties of squirrels. Big, black, brown and gray, others more small, brown and some with two white stripes on the back. And I have forests.
Haha do the ones with the white stripes smell bad? ;)
No, it's a chipmunk. I also have skunks (black and white with scent!), raccoons, wild turkeys, foxes, wolves, deer, bears, moose and many birds! And I'm not in a zoological garden! Only in the wilderness!
Bears? Where are you?
Not a polar bear, nor a Grizzly, but a black bear in Quebec, Canada
Those are just as vicious! How close have you been to one?
I see at about 20 meters. In recent years, bears have attacked walkers on hiking trails. That is why we always walk with a whistle.
We have quite a few black bears out here in the Arizona mountains as well. I have never seen one in the wild just yet, but I am always keeping an eye out.
Cool post! Thanks for sharing this with us :)
Your welcome, and thank you for reading!
Resteemed
Thank you!
They probably transform the planet more than almost any other critter besides beavers (which dam up a lot of rivers to create ponds and lakes).
I think you are right!
In South America they imported beavers from Canada. Today, this is a real problem for them.
That is interesting... unforeseen consequences huh?!
Speaking of beavers, this one in Maryland ran into a dollar store and didn't like the fake Christmas trees. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/12/01/cute-beaver-trashes-store-after-holiday-shopping-in-maryland/?utm_term=.3dbbab48e173
That is hilarious! It almost looked like it was planted there for pictures! Can you imagine shopping there and running into that as you turn the aisle? :)
Yes, the non-native species can be a problem in a lot of countries. Ecosystems take a long time to evolve and include them in the balance of life.
Squirrels are awesome and cute. Interesting fact that their front teeth never stop growing.
Yes, they must keep gnawing in order to keep their teeth short!
I would be interested in knowing how many of the trees planted actually grow into trees? Maybe you have already done the research? I would almost imagine that most of the saplings would be killed off by chemicals and developments. Not to mention erosion and natural disasters.
EDIT: I really enjoyed reading the article and the point of view and information is entertaining and interesting. Thank You.
From my readings, I think that thousands do grow into trees each year in the United States alone.... and that includes the ones that never make it passed saplings. Amazing huh?! :)
Dude that is awesome! Even with only thousands that is still a few hundred in every state! Woohoo go squirrels!
Changing the world one nut at a time! :)
Absolutely true, If Peanuts would grow up North here in N.Y. I would have acres of them growing each year. They love to come knocking on my back door for multiple treats daily just to bury them in mine and all the neighbors yards. lol
That is hilarious! I also read that they are one of the most trusting animals in regards to humans.
I have them running from the tree tops when they see me now! They literally sit on the back of my porch chairs looking in the door to see if I am there. They have gotten so bold as to tell my cats to get out of the way so they can pass them on the porch. It cracks me up everyday.
That is hilarious!
I was already laughing after reading the title :)
At the end, a very interesting post. I learned something about squirrels!
Thank you for reading! My goal for my writing is always to either educate or provide some humor, and in rare instances I am able to do both! :) I am glad you liked it!
Cool post!! Makes sense though...lol!😁
It does, just something I hadn't really thought about before. Thanks for reading!