These Squirrels Are Hunting and Eating Meat and Scientists Only Just Noticed (www.zmescience.com)

submitted 10 months ago by floofloof@lemmy.ca to c/science@lemmy.world

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[-] who@feddit.org 8 points 10 months ago

An article from last year:

https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/carnivorous-feeding-squirrels-documented-california

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

This had been known since the 50's in urban areas.

If you give a mammal little choice and they are desperate, they will eat anything. Same with predator fowl like Hawks and Pelicans. This is all well documented. Rabbits are also known to eat meat if necessary.

[-] limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 10 months ago

I’ve read, many years ago, how the common grey squirrel ( which is ubiquitous in the eastern USA) will hunt mice and eat only their brains, presumably for missing nutrients

[-] smayonak@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I live in a port city crawling with rats and mice. They are so many that it's common to see freshly dead rodents on the bike trail after they were hit by e bikes.

What's crazy is how quickly they get scavenged by crows and squirrels. They dissappear almost immediately.