Squirrelly

Squirrels Have Complex Language

Squirrels can be very vocal animals, as backyard and park observers know, and now scientists have translated some of their squirrel-speak.

The findings, published recently in the journal Animal Behavior, present some of the most detailed information to date on squirrel vocalizations, which the researchers now believe constitute a complex language that is unique to the animals.

The team of zoologists focused their analysis on alarm calls of the Richardson's ground squirrel, Spermophilus richardsonii, which is the most common ground squirrel in Canada. . .

These ground squirrels look more like prairie dogs to me -- but I've no doubt these findings will be validated for my backyard friends as well.

Crack-crazed squirrels terrorise South London

. . . crack dealers and addicts have apparently taken to burying their stashes in people's gardens in the streets around the centre of Brixton after a police clampdown drove them from the thriving commercial heart of the popular London district. Locals have spotted squirrels digging in the same gardens, prompting speculation that they are already addicted to rocks and will in due course take up semi-automatic weapons and launch a violent challenge for the whole trade in illicit narcotics, as is the local custom. . .

What?! You doubt it? Well, see here:

Killer squirrel pack guts dog

A pack of Russian black squirrels is reported to have piled into a dog mob-handed, bitten it to death and then eviscerated the unfortunate animal after it ill-advisedly barked at them, the BBC reports . . .

Locals in the town of Lazo attribute the savagery to a lack of pine cones. One said: "The little beasts are agitated because they have nothing to eat" . . .

Inexplicably, given the above stories:

Animal Lover Suspended for Squirrel Rescue

A woman says she was suspended from her job for spending too much time trying to rescue a squirrel trapped in the ceiling of the library where she works . . .

"It's a real pickle to be in, all over me being compassionate toward animals," Goetz said. "They said I went around the chain of command. I was paying more attention to the animal than I was my job."

Judy Hamilton, the library's executive director, said the suspension followed other animal problems with Goetz. The library had to be most concerned about the safety of its visitors and the possible cost of damage by the squirrel, Hamilton said.

"I don't want that squirrel to die, either, but I can't allow a live animal to be headquartered in that building," Hamilton said. "It's a severe situation I can't ignore. I'm not running a squirrel condominium here."

". . . headquartered . . . squirrel condominium . . . "

It's probably just as well that I'm not currently employed.

Comments

[belledame222]

So, they're talking to each other. And apparently what they're saying is primarily:

ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!!

Ah, nature.

[jess]

yo this site is the coolest i luv squirrels!!!!!!!!!!!!!