Please Hang Up and Try Again Bones
Squirrels rule. Here's why:
Where have you been all my life?
I've tried to explain my love of squirrels to folks before, but to watch them dorsum abroad slowly and speed dial their medico for a rabies vaccine. So here it is (with pictures), twelve astonishing facts about squirrels for the uninitiated.
one) In that location's a squirrel superhero: Squirrel Girl! (And Ulysses –the squirrel superhero from Kate DiCamillo's fabulous Flora and Ulysses, who writes poems!).
2) Squirrels can leap vertically five feet, and can leap between objects that are over 10 anxiety apart. Given that squirrels are less than 1/10th the size of people, if you could do this, you would be a superhero who could literally jump onto five story buildings and clear buses and trucks in a single bound.
three) Squirrels tin can sprint faster than you. (Unless you're Usain Bolt, in which case you're probably faster than a squirrel. But can you lot run vertically upwards a tree at 12 mph? I didn't think so.)
Twiggy has experienced more than in ii squirrel years than about people practise in a lifetime.
four) Squirrels are practiced swimmers, although they usually prefer not to. Except for Twiggy, the water-skiing squirrel.
Albus, the rare Oberlin unicorn squirrel.
5) The higher I went to had a rare white unicorn squirrel in its central square. I saw it once, and it was 1 of the best days of my life.
Moments afterward there was nothing left but bones. (Image from Brian Ashcraft)
6) In Japan, there are squirrel gardens (where y'all can pet squirrels with oven mitts).
vii) The white fur on the inner thigh of a squirrel is the softest thing y'all have never touched.
eight) Squirrels pull out their tail fur for their immature.
nine) A squirrel nest is chosen a drey. It looks similar a leafy piñata in a tree, but please don't hitting it with a stick.
x) Squirrels in North America used to migrate in massive numbers, following cycles of bountiful acorn harvests. When settlers first arrived in this country, they reported squirrels being and so thick in the copse above during a migration that they nearly blocked out the lord's day. The best part — squirrels could do nearly of the journeying from the Eastward coast to Indiana without touching the ground. But as settlers started to clear the old growth oak forests, the keen squirrel migrations became fragmented. Where squirrels had to cross fields, they were killed by coyotes, foxes, and other predators, including people who reported killing hundreds of squirrels (and getting three pennies a pelt). The last great squirrel migration was in 1968 in Wisconsin, when hundreds of thousands of squirrels were seen migrating (and dying on the highway and in lakes). I fisherman reported a moving ridge of squirrels swimming toward his boat and nearly sinking information technology equally they ran over him. Since and then, this mass migration behavior has gone extinct.*
xi) The Japanese flight squirrel is the cutest matter you lot have e'er seen. (If this doesn't win yous over to the squirrel side of the force, and then try number 12).
Laugh not. Nosotros are fierce.
12) Squirrels accept been known to gang up and assail much larger animals. Don't believe me? Here'south a BBC report of squirrels in Russia who killed a large Rottweiler that barked at them (Note: this story is graphic and may be upsetting for some readers). Although squirrels are small, together they are powerful.
Virtually chiefly, squirrels are nature'south foresters. Co-ordinate to researchers, squirrels tend to forget around x% of the nuts that they bury. By spreading and burying tree nuts (similar acorns and chestnuts) it's estimated that squirrels plant millions of trees each year in North America lonely!
And we tin fly too!
*Okay, this mail service might seem to accept very little to do with writing (except for the fact that squirrels are awesome, and therefore an inspiration to every author ever) but for years I've wanted to write a book on squirrel migration (see #10). Trouble is, when I tried to enquiry it, I found that very few biologists know about this behavior, and 1 of the leading experts, Dr. Flyger, (yes, that actually is his proper name) has passed away. So it'south been a tough one to investigate, but if you know any experts on squirrel migration, or migration witnesses, please send me their contact information. The wonder of squirrel migrations must exist documented before all knowledge of this fantastic (and now extinct) behavior fades entirely from human ken!
Last note: In that location is a Squirrel Lovers Social club. Don't judge. Simply join. If you beloved animal stories and ecological thrillers, bank check out my latest honour-winning novel: THE Last PANTHER.
A "Best New Book for Kids" pick!
Source: http://toddmitchellbooks.com/twelve-things-about-squirrels-that-will-blow-your-mind/
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