Californians Freak Out Over Meat-Eating Squirrels, But They’ve Always Been Cannibals

Reports of California ground squirrels hunting, killing and eating voles have blown up the internet, with some suggesting becoming meat-eaters is a disturbing new shift in rodent behavior. 

But ground squirrels eating flesh — including cannibalizing each other — isn’t anything new, a retired Wyoming wildlife biologist said. 

“I’ve seen them a number of times eating on roadkill carcasses of their brethren, which is kind of freaky,” Franz Camenzind of Jackson told Cowboy State Daily. 

Like other animals, ground squirrels, tree squirrels and prairie dogs are opportunists, he said. 

So it’s hardly unheard of for them steal eggs, cannibalize each other’s carcasses, kill smaller rodents or otherwise try to get some animal protein into their diets. 

“I’m not surprised at all” to hear that California ground squirrels have added meat to their diets, Camenzind said. 

Meat-Eating Squirrels Blow Up The Internet

California ground squirrels are known to gobble down insects. But a recent study published in the Journal of Ethology states that they started munching on voles this summer. 

California has seen a huge surge in its vole population, and apparently the squirrels have taken advantage of that. They’ve been observed chasing, killing and eating the smaller rodents, according to the study.

That’s a new twist, at least among that ground squirrel population, according to researchers behind the study. 

It’s hardly earth-shaking to hear about ground squirrels taking advantage of a new food source, Camenzind said. 

Most animals will adjust their diets as conditions change and opportunities arise, Camenzind said.  

“You’ll see animals eating odd things,” he said. 

Although Wyoming ground squirrels feasting on the squashed carcasses of their own kind on the roadside is “kind of gruesome,” that’s just the way nature works sometimes, he added. 

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

In practical terms, the less picky animals are about what they eat, the greater the odds of their species’ survival, Camenzind said. 

Wild animals “learned these things over the millennia, it’s just a survival thing,” he said. “The more generalized you can be, particularly when usual food sources are scarce, the better your chances of survival.”

And although meat “is not an everyday part of their (squirrels’) diets, it’s not unheard of,” he added. 

Squirrels are hardly the only wildlife to stray from their usual lanes when it comes to what’s on the menu, Camenzind said. 

“With bears and coyotes, they’ll eat plants, they’ll eat meat, they’ll eat whatever is available,” he said. 

Humans are no exception. We’ve populated just about every corner of the globe, partly because we haven’t been too particular about how we stuff our faces. 

“We eat everything, or almost everything,” he said. 

Ferrets Almost Died Out Because They’re Picky 

Black-footed ferrets are at the opposite end of the spectrum, said Camenzind, which was almost their undoing. 

“Black-footed ferrets are specialists. Prairie dogs is almost all they’ll eat,” he said. “And if you’re a specialist, like black-footed ferrets, and the prairie dogs are gone — man, you’re doomed.”

By the early 1980s, black-footed ferrets were thought the be gone from the wild. 

Then a ranch dog near Meeteetse came home with a black-footed-ferret in its mouth. 

That led to the discovery of a tiny surviving population in the Meeteetse area. Those ferrets were used as a seed population to help the species bounce back, said Camenzind, who helped observe and document the wild ferret restoration. 

“I was there, on the ground, right after they were found,” he said. 

What Drives Squirrel Cannibalism?

As to exactly why ground squirrels practice roadside cannibalism, that that remains a mystery, Camenzind said. There could be nutrients, such as vital minerals, in the remains of their unfortunate kin.

Humans generally shy away from cannibalism, with a few notable exceptions. 

But squirrels don’t share our squeamishness in that regard. 

“It’s opportunistic behavior,” he said. “What drives it is hard to say, is it nutrition or is it something more bizarre? It’s hard to say.” 

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.