Squirrels can discover 85% of the nuts they conceal

Each fall, squirrels stash 1000’s of nuts and different snacks in preparation for winter. For our fluffy-tailed pals, survival depends upon with the ability to find these meals shops months later. So, how do they do it? On this episode of Ask Us Something, we discuss in regards to the abilities squirrels use to search out their meals and debunk a standard false impression about what number of nuts they lose.

Ask Us Something solutions your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the on a regular basis belongings you’ve at all times questioned to the weird belongings you by no means thought to ask. So, sure, there’s a motive now we have two nostrils as an alternative of 1 huge nostril gap and no, snakes don’t simply slither. When you’ve got a query for us, ship us a observe. Nothing is just too foolish or easy.

This episode relies on the Widespread Science article “How squirrels truly discover all their buried nuts.” You can even examine Tommy Tucker, a dress-wearing squirrel that bought struggle bonds throughout World Battle II.

Subscribe to Ask Us Something

Pay attention and observe Ask Us Something in your favourite podcast platform:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Full Episode Transcript

Sarah Durn: Effectively, we’re absolutely in December, so everyone knows what meaning. It’s Nutcracker time.

[“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” plays]

No, I’m not speaking about that form of nutcracker. I’m speaking about our pleasant, furry neighbors: squirrels.

[Squirrel chattering]

That’s proper, yearly because the climate begins to show, squirrels get busy accumulating and stealing as many nuts as they’ll for winter. However how are these lovely creatures capable of finding all their buried loot?

Welcome to Ask Us Something from the editors of Widespread Science, the place we reply your questions on our bizarre world. From “are cats actually afraid of cucumbers?” to “why are most individuals right-handed?” No query is just too outlandish or mundane. I’m Sarah Durn, an editor at Widespread Science.

Annie Colbert: And I’m Annie Colbert, editor-in-chief at Widespread Science.

SD: Right here at Widespread Science, we’re at all times pondering oddball questions. Curiosity is principally our workplace air provide. 

AC: And this week our curiosity has led us to how squirrels discover all their buried nuts in winter, one thing Sarah simply edited a bit on. So, Sarah, how are squirrels capable of finding all these nuts?

SD: Yeah, properly, the brief reply is that they depend on an extended listing of particular squirrel abilities. Squirrels use a complete toolkit: scent, sight, reminiscence, and so they’ll even steal from each other to get well meals shops. Spatial reminiscence does a number of the heavy lifting right here, and discipline research discover they get well a surprisingly excessive fraction of what they cache.

In different phrases, regardless of the jokes, these bushy tailed hoarders are actually good at discovering their buried loot. 

AC: I really like that. So straight away we’re correcting that very well-known Sarah Silverman joke.

SD: Oh yeah. The one about how squirrels neglect the place they put their nuts and the way that’s how bushes are planted. 

AC: Sure, precisely. I’ve seen it on TikTok many instances. 

SD: Yeah. No shade to Silverman, however squirrels aren’t planting bushes.

AC: I imply, I by no means actually thought comedians had been a very good supply for squirrel information. And naturally, I by no means doubted our squirrel pals and their skills to cover nuts.

SD: I do know they’re too lovely to not be superb at their jobs.

AC: Precisely. Now, earlier than we dive deep into the nut hoard, we wanna know what questions are maintaining you curious. If there’s one thing you’ve at all times wished to know, submit your questions by means of popsci.com/ask. Once more, that’s popsci.com/ask. 

SD: We are able to’t wait to listen to your questions.

AC: We’ll be again with the entire nutty particulars of how squirrels are capable of finding their winter meals shops after this brief break.

Welcome again. So let’s get into it. 

SD: Let’s do it.

AC: Okay. For starters, I had wrongly assumed that every one squirrels stashed their nuts in the identical means.

SD: Inform me extra.

AC: So Jap grey squirrels, that are widespread throughout the Northeast and Midwest, are what scientists name scatter hoarders. They stash a whole bunch of nuts throughout a large space somewhat than maintaining them multi functional place.

Different species, like crimson squirrels, that are widespread in Europe and throughout Russia, principally stockpile their meals in a single defended pantry of types. Scientists name this system larder hoarding.

SD: Oh, now I’m imagining them in like little kitchens.

AC: Oh, Meals Community, nevertheless it’s all squirrels. Oh, okay, sorry, I obtained distracted. However an vital observe is that they gained’t stockpile their meals close to their nests.

SD: Oh, actually?

AC: Yeah. I’m unsure if scientists know precisely why. Perhaps it’s safer to maintain the meals out of the nest so different squirrels aren’t lurking round or different animals.

SD: However all squirrels do have nest, proper?

AC: Sure. So tree squirrels construct their nests out of twigs and leaves and moss and no matter else they could discover whereas scrounging round. These nests are known as dreys, and I truly had a squirrel construct a nest proper outdoors the window of my house and I’ll say it didn’t finish properly on a really windy day, however we’ll save that story for one more day. 

SD: Oh no! 

AC: However floor squirrels, so floor squirrels just like the California floor squirrel they stay in, burrows within the floor.

SD: Uh huh, I actually want I may go to a squirrel residence.

AC: Ooh, squirrel HGTV! 

SD: An entire squirrel community.

AC: Yeah, the entire cable community, simply squirrels! All proper, Sarah, so when the climate will get cooler, what precisely are these squirrels storing? Is all of it nuts? 

SD: Nuts are in all probability probably the most widespread issues that they’re storing as a result of you realize, they’ll final some time. However squirrels eat all types of issues: leaf buds, wild fruits, chook eggs, tree bark. So that they retailer no matter, you realize, they’ll get their little paws on. They’ll even dry out issues like mushrooms to retailer.

AC: Oh, that’s so cool, little selection. 

SD: I do know.

AC: I imply, the squirrels in Brooklyn are tremendous daring. I as soon as helplessly watched a squirrel steal a complete baguette out of the underside of my stroller a couple of years in the past. He simply grabbed it and scampered off for like a bit of bread feast together with his pals.

SD: Yeah. I imply, New York squirrels are so intense.

AC: All proper, Sarah, so it’s time for the all vital query. How precisely are squirrels capable of finding all this meals they’re storing? 

SD: I imply, actually, they’re geniuses. Most squirrels have a house vary that spans six to eight acres, roughly the scale of 4 soccer fields. And that space can embrace a number of nests. And throughout these 4 soccer fields of dense forest or no matter habitat a squirrel lives in, a single squirrel can conceal as much as 3000 nuts.

AC: What?

SD: I do know, so in the event that they’re burying nuts primarily between mid-August and the top of November, which is when most tree nuts mature, they’re principally burying 30 nuts a day.

AC: I imply, that’s quite a bit. So the place are they really burying all these nuts?

SD: Effectively, in chilly locations, squirrels don’t at all times truly bury their nuts within the floor. They’ll stash meals in tree hollows or branches in order that they don’t need to dig by means of ice and snow.

AC: Oh, very sensible. What about in hotter locations?

SD: Yeah, so I stay in New Orleans the place it’s fairly heat yr spherical and it’s in all probability simpler for squirrels to truly bury their nuts and different meals within the floor right here.

AC: Okay, so one other doubtlessly foolish query. They nonetheless must bury the nuts in hotter locations, proper? Like there aren’t nuts or meals year-round. 

SD: Yeah, I used to be truly questioning that too. However principally, sure, bushes will nonetheless lose their nuts and fall even in New Orleans. So squirrels nonetheless must stockpile meals for winter. However I might assume southern squirrels perhaps have a neater time than squirrels in say Canada.

AC: Completely. So squirrels, no matter local weather, all get busy hiding 1000’s of nuts each fall.

SD: Yeah.

AC: Hmm. So how do they really discover these nuts months later?

SD: Okay, in order that’s a wonderful query. So let’s begin with the fundamentals. Squirrels actually don’t depend on a single trick. They use scent, sight, and reminiscence, plus social cues from different squirrels. One of many sources from this story, Dr. Noah Perlut, a professor on the College of New England, who leads grey squirrel analysis on campus, says they “use the entire toolkit.” Spatial reminiscence, remembering locations and the way these locations relate to landmarks, is particularly vital for once they dig their meals again up. 

AC: Okay, however once you say spatial reminiscence, do you imply they bear in mind the precise spot or extra like form of basic areas? 

SD: Sometimes they’re returning to the precise spot, even months later. In a single experiment, scientists tried to idiot squirrels with faux stashes that seemed equivalent to the actual ones. They usually even swapped the grass patches, so the imposter stashes carried the actual scent of the unique locations, however the squirrels didn’t fall for it. They ignored the imposters and dug up their precise caches. That tells us that their reminiscence for the place they buried issues is correct sufficient to beat a scent trick.

AC: That’s wild. So scent isn’t sufficient to trick them. They’re truly remembering the place issues are buried?

SD: Proper. Scent helps, particularly beneath snow, nevertheless it’s not the entire story. Subject work additionally reveals squirrels use visible landmarks. One other layer to that is that many squirrels truly steal nuts from different squirrels.

AC: Good drama.

SD: Yeah, in order that they’ll watch one another conceal their winter meals shops and infrequently steal from each other.

So squirrels aren’t solely maintaining monitor of “the place did I put my meals?” But additionally “the place did that different squirrel put theirs?” Scientists name this pilfering. 

AC: Hmm. That’s good. I assume it’s rather less imply sounding.

SD: Yeah, proper. Perlut thinks that squirrels truly attempt to pilfer AKA steal one other squirrel stash first, after which if that fails, they go for their very own stashes

AC: Wow. It’s an actual squirrel-eat-squirrel world on the market. 

SD: Yeah. Not less than in terms of their nuts. To keep away from getting pilfered, squirrels will even fake to bury nuts in a single place after which truly bury them in one other place finally. And it’s all a approach to confuse the opposite squirrels who could also be spying on them.

AC: So there’s a complete social recreation happening. Do we all know how properly they do total? Like what number of hidden nuts do squirrels truly get well? 

SD: Yeah, so one city research estimated grey squirrels retrieve about 85 % of their cached nuts, or, you realize, no matter else they’re burying. A newer 2023 research reported that crimson squirrels in an city park shortly discovered nearly all of the nuts they cached, even with competitors.

AC: Wow. They’re significantly better than I’m once I lose my pockets or keys or every part else I lose.

SD: I do know. I imply, we should always all have like little squirrels assist us discover issues we lose round the home.

AC: Truthfully, that might be a dream. Welcome the squirrels to my residence.

SD: I do know, that might be wonderful. Perlut additionally notes that squirrels can bear in mind issues for as much as two months.

AC: Wow.

SD: They usually’re actually, actually sensible in regards to the timing of how they eat issues too. They’ll eat sure nuts sooner, for instance. So acorns from a white oak sprout shortly, so squirrels usually eat these first, whereas crimson oak acorns germinate extra slowly, and they are often saved for longer.

AC: So sensible, our little pals.

SD: I do know. One factor Perlut mentioned actually struck me. He famous that grey squirrels, as an illustration, spend a number of time not foraging. They relaxation, watch, socialize. In order that’s in a means, proof of how efficient their stashing system is. They’re not busy all day hiding nuts. I really like that.

AC: They work sensible, however not nonstop. I really feel like these are icons for all of us.

SD: So to recap, squirrels use a mix of spatial reminiscence, scent, visible landmarks, social statement, and even watching what different squirrels are as much as, plus all that faux bearing drama to throw off furry thieves to guard and get well their caches. All in all squirrels are actually good at discovering what they conceal.

Completely different species go about it in several methods, whether or not that’s scatter hoarding in all places or maintaining one huge pantry stash, AKA larder hoarding. 

AC: They usually’re actually professionals.

SD: They are surely.

AC: I’ve discovered a lot right this moment. With that, we’ll be proper again to wrap up this episode with the story of Tommy Tucker, a squirrel who was adopted by the Bullis household in 1944.

SD: A squirrel who wore little outfits to assist increase cash for struggle bonds and different philanthropic causes.

AC: A squirrel who even did radio spots with FDR!

SD: Clearly we’re excited.

AC: Sure, that’s developing subsequent after this brief break.

Okay, Sarah, as promised, let’s discuss Tommy Tucker, somebody we’re very enthusiastic about once we found this story and America’s most glamorous wartime squirrel. And I actually, once we discovered this out, I couldn’t consider that this man truly existed.

SD: I do know he’s iconic, so sure, Tommy Tucker was an Jap grey squirrel, who grew to become a full blown residence entrance movie star throughout World Battle II.

AC: So how did he go from random child squirrel to icon? 

SD: It’s a wonderful query. He actually fell out of a hickory tree in Washington, DC. Just a little lady discovered him on her stroll to high school, fed him heat milk, and made him a tiny mattress in a crimson wool hat. Then her household needed to transfer and he or she gave Tommy Tucker to her neighbor, Zadie Bullis, and that’s when his life actually took off.

AC: I’m so obsessive about this.

SD: So Zadie principally turned Tommy right into a tiny, furry trend icon. He had greater than 100 handmade outfits. Every thing from a silk pleated costume for firm to a Pink Cross nurse costume for visiting the hospital.

AC: Uh, and famously all clothes as a result of pants don’t actually work with a squirrel tail.

SD: Precisely. Life Journal even joked about it on the time.

AC: Okay, so. How does a squirrel and a costume turn out to be a struggle hero?

SD: Yeah, so Bullis began taking him round DC to the bakery, the grocery retailer, the kids’s hospital, and other people actually began to fall in love with him.

AC: In fact.

SD: Finally the US Treasury constructed him a customized sales space so he may promote struggle bonds. He’d present up in crimson, white, and blue satin, and he even had a fan membership with one thing like. 30,000 members.

AC: Okay. That’s greater than a number of influencers.

SD: And Air Power bomber crews actually carried his image with them on missions. Troopers wrote to him from the entrance strains saying he gave them confidence. Through the struggle he traveled the nation by prepare, making a radio appearances with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

AC: Ugh, what a furry hero.

SD: After which after the struggle ended, he highway tripped with the Bullis’s till he died on a sightseeing journey to the Grand Canyon in 1949.

AC: Oh no, Tommy.

SD: I do know!

AC: However you possibly can nonetheless see him right this moment, proper?

SD: You may. He and all his wardrobes are preserved on the Smithsonian Archives. You simply need to make an appointment.

AC: Oh, a nationwide treasure and a method icon.

SD: Really, could all of us go away behind such an impeccable wardrobe.

AC: Completely a hero forever.

And that’s it for this episode, however don’t fear, now we have extra superior Ask Us Anythings stay in our feed proper now. Observe or subscribe to Ask Us Something by Widespread Science, wherever you take pleasure in your podcasts. And if you happen to like our present, please go away a score and assessment.

SD: We actually care what you assume. Our theme music is from Kenneth Michael Reagan, and our producer is Alan Haburchak. This week’s episode was based mostly on our article written for Widespread Science by Jennifer Byrne.

AC: Thanks group, and due to everybody listening.

SD: And another time, if you happen to wanna have one thing you’ve at all times questioned about defined on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask. Till subsequent time. Hold the questions coming.

AC: Yeah, don’t maintain your questions. Like our furry pals for his or her meals.

SD: Clearly.

AC: I’ve been ready this complete episode to make a squirrel noise too, so

[Annie makes squirrel noises]

SD: I do know they’ve actually cute little fingers.