{"id":186494,"date":"2024-12-18T12:55:34","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T20:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=186494"},"modified":"2024-12-18T12:59:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T20:59:29","slug":"even-the-squirrels-have-gone-carnivor-kat-kerlin-ucdavis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=186494","title":{"rendered":"Even the Squirrels Have Gone Carnivor ~\u00a0Kat Kerlin UC Davis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Davis, CA&#8230;First Evidence of Ground Squirrels Hunting and Eating Voles in Bay Area.\u00a0 A ground squirrel with cheeks stuffed with nuts, seeds or grains, is a common sight. But a new study provides the first evidence that California ground squirrels also hunt, kill and eat voles. The study, led by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of California, Davis, is the first to chronicle widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucdavis.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/sf_landscape_16x9\/public\/media\/images\/capital%20Z%20with%20vole-0797-min.jpg?h=8351d32e&amp;itok=g6KfMlLm\" alt=\"Ground squirrel runs aross a dirt road with a vole in its mouth\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" \/><figcaption>A California ground squirrel in Contra Costa County runs with a vole it hunted in its mouth. A study from UC Davis and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is the first to document widespread carnivorous feeding of voles by squirrels. (Sonja Wild, UC Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>A ground squirrel with cheeks stuffed with nuts, seeds or grains, is a common sight. But a new study provides the first evidence that California ground squirrels also hunt, kill and eat voles. The study, led by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of California, Davis, is the first to chronicle widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Published in the Journal of Ethology,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s10164-024-00832-6\">the study<\/a>\u00a0fundamentally changes our understanding of ground squirrels. It suggests that what was considered a granivorous species actually is an opportunistic omnivore and more flexible in its diet than previously assumed.<\/p>\n<p>The observations occurred in 2024 \u2014 the 12th year of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jenniferelainesmith.com\/research.html\">Long-term Behavioral Ecology of California Ground Squirrels Project<\/a>\u00a0conducted at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County. Out of 74 observed interactions with voles between June and July, 42% involved active hunting of these small rodents by ground squirrels.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"media-oembed-content\" title=\"Vole hunting: Novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels\" \n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lyeoulM_GFk\" title=\"Vole hunting: Novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis was shocking,\u201d said lead author\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jenniferelainesmith.com\/lead.html\">Jennifer E. Smith<\/a>, an associate professor of biology at UW-Eau Claire who leads the long-term ground squirrels project with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/sonjawild\/home?authuser=0\">Sonja Wild\u00a0<\/a>of UC Davis. \u201cWe had never seen this behavior before. Squirrels are one of the most familiar animals to people. We see them right outside our windows; we interact with them regularly. Yet here\u2019s this never-before-encountered-in-science behavior that sheds light on the fact that there\u2019s so much more to learn about the natural history of the world around us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wild has observed hundreds of squirrels in nature and yet, even for her, when the undergraduate students came in from field work and told her what they had witnessed, she said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m not sure what you\u2019re referring to.\u201d Then she watched the video.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could barely believe my eyes,\u201d said Wild, a postdoctoral research fellow in the UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy department. \u201cFrom then, we saw that behavior almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucdavis.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/media\/images\/insect%20with%20vole-0027-min%20%281%29.jpg\" alt=\"A ground squirrel shown eating a vole outside\" width=\"4297\" height=\"2865\" \/><\/div><figcaption>A California ground squirrel eats a vole it hunted. (Sonja Wild, UC Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Opportunists amid rapid change<\/h2>\n<p>Through videos, photos and direct observations at the regional park, the authors documented California ground squirrels of all ages and genders hunting, eating and competing over vole prey between June 10 and July 30. The squirrels\u2019 carnivorous summer behavior peaked during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with an explosion in vole numbers at the park reported by citizen scientists on iNaturalist. This suggests that the squirrels\u2019 hunting behavior emerged alongside a temporary increase in the availability of prey, the study said.\u00a0The scientists didn\u2019t observe the squirrels hunting other mammals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that California ground squirrels are behaviorally flexible and can respond to changes in food availability might help them persist in environments rapidly changing due to the presence of humans,\u201d Wild said.<\/p>\n<p>Smith added that many species, including the California ground squirrel, are \u201cincredible opportunists.\u201d From raccoons and coyotes to spotted hyenas and humans, the flexibility these mammals apply to their hunting strategies help them change and adapt with the human landscape.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucdavis.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/media\/images\/merge_sign%20with%20vole-9917-min.jpg\" alt=\"Large ground squirrel sits eating a vole, pulling at its pink flesh with its teeth\" width=\"3761\" height=\"2507\" \/><\/div><figcaption>A California ground squirrel dines on a vole it hunted in a Bay Area regional park. (Sonja Wild, UC Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThrough this collaboration and the data coming in, we\u2019re able to document this widespread behavior that we had no idea was going on,\u201d Smith said. \u201cDigital technology can inform the science, but there\u2019s no replacement for going out there and witnessing the behavior because what animals are doing always surprises us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers said many questions remain unanswered, including how widespread the hunting behavior is among squirrels, whether and how it is passed down from parent to pup, and how it effects ecological processes. The authors are also excited to return to the field next summer to see what impact, if any, this year\u2019s vole hunting may have on squirrel reproduction compared to the past decade.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucdavis.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/media\/images\/Tia%20Ravara_Ryann%20Su_photo%20by%20SWild-3423.jpg\" alt=\"Tia Ravara in flannel shirt and black tee site beside Ryann Su in hat smiling as they watch a squirrel on their picnic table\" width=\"4927\" height=\"3285\" \/><\/div><figcaption>Undergraduate researchers Tia Ravara from UW-Eau Claire, left, and Ryann Su of UC Davis watch a squirrel during the 2023 field season. They were part of &#8220;Team Squirrel,&#8221; a long-term research project co-led by UW-Eau Claire and UC Davis to study California ground squirrel behavioral ecology at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County. (Sonja Wild, UC Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Co-authors include Joey Ingbretson, Mackenzie Miner, Ella Oestreicher, Mari Podas, Tia Ravara, Lupin Teles and Jada Wahl of UW-Eau Claire and Lucy Todd of UC Davis.<\/p>\n<p>Several co-authors conducted field work during their undergraduate studies. Their work was partly funded by the Ronald E. McNair\u00a0Postbaccalaureate\u00a0Achievement Program, Diversity Mentoring Program and Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates. Additional funding sources include the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Vicki Lord Larson and James Larson Tenure-track Time Reassignment Collaborative Research Program.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Media Resources<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Jennifer E. Smith, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:smitjenn@uwec.edu\">smitjenn@uwec.edu<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sonja Wild, UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:swild@ucdavis.edu\">swild@ucdavis.edu<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Kat Kerlin, UC Davis News and Media Relations,\u00a0<a href=\"tel:530-750-9195\">530-750-9195<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:kekerlin@ucdavis.edu\">kekerlin@ucdavis.edu<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ucdavis.box.com\/s\/nf1p2vt0kxhnsgeuhxnsm7g8fwv7xrpa\">Press kit of images and b-roll.<\/a>\u00a0Download permitted with credit to Sonja Wild\/UC Davis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Davis, CA&#8230;First Evidence of Ground Squirrels Hunting and Eating Voles in Bay Area.\u00a0 A ground squirrel with cheeks stuffed with nuts, seeds or grains, is a common sight. But a new study provides the first evidence that California ground squirrels also hunt, kill and eat voles. The study, led by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6,20,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animals-pets","category-education","category-featured","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/carnivorsql.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186494"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186499,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186494\/revisions\/186499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/186496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=186494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=186494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}