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Photos Caught in the Act
Sure enough, juveniles and females did engage in the scent application procedure more, indicating that the smell does help to deter snakes, and perhaps other predators that are also scared of snakes. It can be hard to fool a snake, Clucas pointed out, since they possess a keen visual system and special pit organs that essentially enable them to see body heat. "However, ground squirrels spend quite a lot of time underground in their burrows," she said. "So applying snake scent may benefit squirrels that are asleep (underground), unaware of a snake investigating their burrow." Daniel Blumstein, associate professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California at Los Angeles, commented that "the squirrels essentially 'cross dress' and mask their own scent with that of snakes." "This is neat because it illustrates yet another way that predators and the risk of predation select for adaptations to reduce the risk of predation and it tells us to look widely for those adaptations," he told Discovery News. The find additionally places squirrels on the list of other creatures that apply stinky foreign substances to their bodies. These include hedgehogs applying toad skin scent, rats wearing weasel smells, birds applying millipedes to their feathers and primates, including humans, that apply all sorts of stink in hopes of avoiding bug bites. Related Links: Jennifer Viegas' blog: Born Animal Squirrel Wildlife Rehabilitation Interesting Facts About Squirrels |
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