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:
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.
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