Bees sleep more after hanging out with bees than they do after spending time alone - five hours more! It could be the flood of information they have to process after encounter so many of their colony members - the extra sleep may help with learning and memory. Read more here!
We're long overdue for a squirrel news update, and there's a lot to report!
I won’t spoil all the fun, but my favorite is the fact that some squirrels hang fungi out to dry, essentially making mushroom “jerky” – gross (I hate mushrooms) but awesome. Read the facts here.
Why is this squirrel paddling around in the shallows of this beach in Wales? No idea.
Last time I reported on Grace the disabled squirrel who a family had rescued and raised without a wildlife permit. Social media helped concerned folks get attention for this issue. The squirrel was seized by the state and brought to a wildlife rehab center. What is unclear is what will happen if Grace cannot be released back into the wild. Petitioners claim that in that case, the state will euthanize her instead of return her to her rescuers. Read about it here.
If you live in the city, you likely see a lot of pigeons, and you likely see a lot of pigeons that could use a pedicure (if they have any toes left). WHY are pigeon feet so wonky? @TetZoo tries to work it out here:
The short answer, injuries from urban "stuff" - but I think there are still more questions! Why so many pigeons and not other urban birds, like crows?
Read more here, where pigeon experts Dr. Haag-Wackernagel and Dr. Lisa Jaquin discuss how fibers get tangled in pigeon feet and cause all kinds of problems (thanks to SavorTooth for that tip!).
A Russian squirrel took off with a baggie of drugs, teens chase, police get curious...you can't make this stuff up.
Sneezy the campus squirrel has gained notoriety (and much media coverage) for her high tolerance for being dressed in cute outfits. A "squirrel whispering" student at Penn State has even turned this squirrel's cuteness into an enterprise, including a Facebook page with over 25,000 "likes." Is this squirrel-sploitation or just ridiculously cute? Is this putting Berkeley squirrels to shame?
A festival of squirrels
Where in the world would more than 7000 people gather to celebrate squirrels with music, beer, fireworks, face painting and even a bridge for squirrels to cross the road without getting squished by cars? Longview, Washington, a place I really need to visit one day.
Squirrel season has begun
For the record, I am a vegetarian and not exactly pro-hunting. But…last year was a mast year for many areas, and squirrel populations are up. Quotes like “it’s a good way to introduce kids to firearms” and “someone is bound to have a good recipe” are not exactly a fast track to my heart.
Imagine you are a squirrel: Should you trust humans? Should you cross the street? How do you get ladies and food? Being a squirrel isn’t easy…but now there’s the “Squirrel Code” (spoofing something I’m obviously too old and unhip to know about) to help you survive. (May not be suitable for work)
Squirrels contributed to two power outages in Portland, OR in one week, and PG&E crews there are considering "wildlife guards" to prevent squirrels from entering substations, since 18% of power outages there can be blamed on animals. One of these power outages was blamed for two car accidents. Squirrels were also later falsely accused of a power outage in nearby Clackamas County, but it turned out to be an equipment failure.
In Nebraska City, a squirrel "put his feet where they shouldn't have been," leaving residents without power for an hour. One squirrel caused inconveniences for over 4000 people in Indiana, and a squirrel in Springfield, IL made contact with the power equipment "in the wrong way" (I think that is a euphemism for the squirrel's passing). Grand Rapids, MI also experienced a squirrel-related loss of power.
And finally, in Leatherland (somewhere in the UK), a squirrel started a fire after he "fried his brains out," and the short circuit triggered a fire in leaves nearby.
In case you are wondering, it's not squirrels' running on single power lines that causes the problems; it's almost always contact with two lines at the same time (even a paw on one, and a touch of the tail to the other) that causes the outages. A nice description of the problem here.
A mummified squirrel body was discovered nailed to a tree in Ottawa, Canada.
and a police officer was called to assist with a “trapped squirrel.” It’s not clear from the report where exactly this squirrel was stuck. But I love small town police logs! Teens sneaking out of the house! Stolen chainsaws! Men fighting over tin cans! Suspicious persons!
Someone paid $70K for a pair of taxidermied, boxing squirrels. That’s what I’d call disposable income.
For your next party, consider a "disco clam"? These clams have flashy lips that they move frequently to create a "disco ball" effect. Scientists at UC Berkeley (hey! I know Lindsay!) recently determined that this is not bioluminescence (as found in some animals such as jellyfish) but because the lip has highly reflective cells on one side. They still don't know why the disco clam has flashy lips, but mate attraction is always a good guess. Read more and see a video here (in an article by another UCB scientist, and my friend Jane Hu)!
I've had plenty of urban encounters with raccoons and they kind of scare the crap out of me. Like many urban "pest" species, they are amazingly understudied given their obvious problem solving behaviors and survival skills. Jason Goldman tells us more about the behavior and lifestyle of this fascinating animal.
