Squirrelly Behavior

Vole aka "meadow mouse" (Sonja Wild/UC Davis/SFGate)

Aa a beginning grade school reader in the 1950's my first reading material was the classic Golden Books. I moved on to the "Mother West Wind" series by Thornton W. Burgess (1874-1965), who populated the Green Meadows with over a dozen animal characters. My favorite was Danny Meadow Mouse, who frolicked with Jerry Muskrat, old Mr. Toad, Jimmy Skunk, and Chatterer the Squirrel.

A recent discovery revealed that Thornton W. Burgess' Green Meadows is red in tooth and claw, and we're not even talking about predators like coyotes and cougars: [bold added]

Squirrel eating vole (Sonja Wild/UC Davis/SFGate)

In June 2024, Jennifer E. Smith of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire received a disturbing report from her research team conducting fieldwork at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County. It’s a sprawling expanse of grasslands and oak woodlands known for scenic trails, views of Mount Diablo and a thriving bird-watching scene. However, Smith’s students had documented something far more unsettling than a rare bird or damage on a trail: an unsettling description of a California ground squirrel actively hunting, killing and ripping apart the bodies of tiny California voles...

For squirrels observed consuming their kills immediately rather than carrying the carcass back to a den, the behavior followed a grimly methodical pattern. In every case, the squirrels “first removed the head of the vole” before pulling meat from the torso. They then “stripped fur from each of the body parts” before devouring the exposed flesh, organs and even cartilage, behavior that was reminiscent of a more seasoned predator.

The scientists speculate that a spike in the vole population induced the squirrels to switch to an easier, abundant source of protein. What was remarkable was how quickly the mainly granivorous ("relying primarily on seeds, grains and vegetation") squirrels became skilled predators.

Danny Meadow Mouse needs to be more careful about who he hangs out with.