(FOX40.COM) — Researchers from UC Davis and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire made a startling discovery this year that squirrels will hunt other mammals .
Since 2012, the two universities have been studying the long-term behavioral ecology of California Ground squirrels.
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In June and July 2024, more than 70 squirrels were witnessed taking part in hunting, eating and competing over vole prey. Voles are relatives of hamsters and are sometimes known as field mice.
Dr. Sonja Wild of UC Davis said that she was unsure of what her undergraduate students were first telling her when they returned with their field reports.
“I could barely believe my eyes,” Wild said after watching a video captured of the squirrels. “From then, we saw that behavior almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.”
The research study published in the Journal of Ethology notes that the squirrel’s unusual diet is in tandem with a spike in the vole population at the regional park where the squirrels were being studied.