h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...au contraire, squirrels love apples, but are inclined to eat them only when they're thirsty or the apples have been adequately sun dried. They also eat snakes.

It's fine with me if squirrels like apples. let them eat the apples and leave my petunias alone!

Do squirrels eat snakes? I thought it was the other way around. I suppose it depends on which is larger....

I've seen them doing it. I'd suspect most predation of snakes takes place in the burrow when the snake mistakenly takes shelter there. Ground squirrels are immune to rattlesnake venom.

When my most recent problem squirrel started munching my cacti, first I tried luring it away with apples, potatoes, cactus apples, yams, all of which it ate. It liked bird seed best.

"Bring them back alive" type traps are available at most major house and garden emporiums in the pest control section, places like Home Depot or Lowes. Recommended bait, a little peanut butter liberally peppered with bird seed.

We might not be talking about the same kinds of squirrel. The squirrels I meant have long bushy tails and spend a lot of time in trees. I see a lot of these around here. Most are gray, though one or two are black (which I'm told is a separate subgroup). It wouldn't be very often that they would encounter snakes. Around here, they enjoy acorns from the many oak trees that we have.

Chipmunks (which are also called ground squirrels) are a different story. They live in burrows, and are likely to be brown with black and white stripes. I know of one that killed a mouse. If a chipmunk encountered a snake in a burrow, I expect that it would defend itself. It makes sense that chipmunks would eat things like apples or squashes. We don't have any outdoor cactuses in my area, so I don't know if our local species of chipmunk would eat them.

but! there's nothing in any holy bookabout the "creator" bringing squirrels unto the worldor chipmonks

I think it's all supposed to be assumed. There were animals that the early peoples of the Middle East had never seen, so they couldn't have mentioned them by name in their scriptures.

Very respectful posting, Prof, in 136. The guy who said never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing was Jesus.

I didn't know Jesus said that.

they say he had an hand in everything

He worked as a carpenter, in partnership with his father. It is said that the plows he made were so good that they lasted for centuries.

One of the movies about the crucifixion shows him making the cross he will die on.

The most ubiquitous squirrel in the state of California is this one, Otospermophilus beechyi.

http://www.google.com/images?q=California+Squirrels&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&num=10&lr=&cr=&safe=images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=v923TI70DI30tgPIt-TMBw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CC8QsAQwAg&biw=1280&bih=614

(The refrigerator raiding squirrel and the snake hunting squirrel I mentioned were members of this species. (By the way, I do not think that any of the serpents of California, excepting perhaps the King Snake,

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7720237142972383063#

a constrictor, are large enough to swallow an adult ground squirrel squirrel whole, though the young are of course susceptible to predation. Also, the adult Otospermophilus beechyi is immune to rattlesnake venom (though the young do not begin to develop immunity until at least a month of age), something that gives them an evolutionary and predatory edge over the rattlesnake. Unlike serpents, they do not need to swallow their prey whole.))

It is found from the Baja peninsula to Washington state and its range extends into Nevada and Arizona.

This squirrel is usually a burrowing animal, but it sometimes adopts an arboreal habit in forested ares and will climb trees anywhere there are trees if there's anything in it for them.

I've seen them climbing elder berry trees, harvesting bunches of berries and hanging them to dry for raisins in southern California. (The raisins, made from a green elder berry, not a purple elder berry, are a straw yellow color when dried and aren't bad at all. I took to making my own and adding them to my trail mix. I wouldn't think of doing that with a purple elderberry, a culinary horror of unspeakable character.)

I've also seen this squirrel living by means of gathering acorns and nesting in trees in northern California.

Their largest population is located in the Central Coast rolling hills dune grass prairie, where they live primarily on the seeds of the dune grass, a soft cereal grain, from which one can make a creditable and distinctive loaf of bread. Their population in the Central Coast area literally numbers in the millions. They are preyed upon by,

The San Joaquin Kit Fox,

http://www.google.com/images?q=San+Joaquin+Kit+Fox&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&num=10&lr=&cr=&safe=images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=j-23TNeYC4T4swOg8PS7CQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=614

The California Bobcat,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=California+Bobcat&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

The Jackalope, (Its a spoof of course, but I couldn't resist this one, especial attention, the supporting figures in the second photo in the second row.)

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+Jackalope&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

(There is actually a giant hare of the Central Coast area that preys on ground squirrels, distinguished from the cotton tail and the black tail hares by a shaggy brown tail(see second photo, second page in the link below, some of which are spoof photos).

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+California+Giant+Hare&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

This is a wild species that preys on ground squirrels, physically running them down, and a mature buck may weigh at over forty pounds, inspiring the legend of the Jackalope.)

The Coyote,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+Coyote&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

El Lobo,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=El+Lobo&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g4g-m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

The Cougar,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+Mountain+Lion&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Wild Pigs,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch:1&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&gs_rfai=&q=Wild%20Pigs%20in%20California

The Black Bear,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+Black+Bear&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

There are people who think that the extinction of the California Grizzly Bear,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svvCH48ued4

http://www.valleycenterhistory.org/Grizzly.htm

http://www.counterpunch.org/palmer1109.html

may have led to an explosive increase in the population of Otospermophilus beechyi in the Central Coast area, which had the largest population of California Grizzlys during precolonial times and has the largest population of the California Ground Squirrel today.

Other predators include Hawks, Kites, Eagles and Owls and Gila Monsters,

http://www.google.com/images?q=Gila+Monster&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&num=10&lr=&cr=&safe=images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=QpG4TN6cIIa8sQPZnp2YDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=614

(see photo #6) though Gila Monsters, of course, are not found in California.

So, in summation, this particular squirrel is an important one, helping to keep the predatory wild animals of California honest by means of providing them a plentiful and readily available prey animal.




Other California squirrels of note include the Grey Squirrel,


http://www.google.com/images?q=The+California+Grey+Squirrel,+photos&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&num=10&lr=&cr=&safe=images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=upS4TPidOouosAOO-YCsDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=614

This is the species that has been repeatedly reported by US Forest service, Park Service and Fish and Game officials for burgling food storage cabinets and keep-safes by means of working the latches.




This next one, the Desert Squirrel, Citellus tereticaudus,

http://www.google.com/search?q=The+Colorado+Desert+Squirrel%2C+photos&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=images

can, on account of its size and markings, be readily mistaken for a chipmunk, but is as a matter of fact, a squirrel. The squirrel that's been munching my cacti (and it has a prodigious appetite) is a member of this species.

There is a desert chipmunk, Ammospermophilus leucarus, the Desert Antelope Chipmunk,

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+Colorado+Desert+Chipmunk%2C+images&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

a tiny little thing only about three inches long (or less), smaller than my thumb. (I've got 4" x 8" spatulate (rectangular) 'bricklayers' hands.)

The Desert Chipmunk is a species distinct from the classical California Chipmunk, Neotamias obscurus, which has about twice its' overall dimensions and eight times its' mass.

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=The+California+Chipmunk%2C+images&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Also re: post 145,

Dietary choices with wild animals vary considerably with climate. I used to grow the Giant Cholla cactus,

http://www.google.com/images?as_q=Giant+Cholla&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgtype=&imgsz=&imgw=&imgh=&imgar=&as_filetype=&imgc=&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images&as_st=y

as a barrier to encroachment on the garden by the desert hare.

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1B3MOZA_enUS383US385&biw=1280&bih=614&as_st=y&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=Desert+Hare&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

In the Perris Valley. In the Coachella Valley, the same species of desert hare will chew them to the ground despite the spines for the water.

The California Ground Squirrel is definitely a different critter than the grey squirrels we have in Massachusetts. In area where there are trees or telephone poles or even houses that the squirrels can climb, few of the predators you mention would have much chance of catching our squirrels. Maybe the bobcats could climb trees, but I can't imaigne them doing it faster than a squirrel. I used to have a cat, however, that killed squirrels.

Squirrels are easy meat for a cat. On the other hand, the gila monster - ground squirrel face off, which would you bet on? The gila monster does have a chance.

Ground squirrels and arboreal squirrels don't differ much in ability or lifestyle, only in how and where they make their dens.

Found these items in a Google search, under "Squirrels in mythology",

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatoskr

under "Squirrels in Aesops' Fables",

http://www.english-for-students.com/Cartload-of-Almonds.html

under "Squirrels in Native American folklore",

http://www.nativeamericanembassy.net/www.lenni-lenape.com/www/html/LenapeArchives/LenapeSet-01/squirrel.html

http://www.indianlegend.com/lenape/lenape_002.htm

Under "Squirrels in Chinese fairy tales",

http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/63Arts7113.html

Ratatoskr is probably the best known squirrel in classical mythology. Yggdrasil, the tree it inhabited, is usually identified with the tree of life.

The Old Norse tales amount to an apocryphal Genesis, beginning shortly before the creation and continuing till shortly after the great flood (Ragnarok).

Solution to the cart load of almonds problem: make marzipan.

What, there was no dental care for squirrels in that kingdom?

Looking at it another way, if by that time the squirrel had been without teeth for a while, then what was he able to eat?


I like the thought of Ratatoskr as a messenger between the top of the tree and the bottom.

So there are squirrels on four continents? What about Africa?

Ratatoskr provides a good point of view for the events of The Garden of Eden/The Golden Apples of the Hesperides/The Rape of Idun, though the climax on that last came in the duel between Odin and the giant who'd abducted Idun.

Still that squirrel point of view (plus a little concluding hearsay) could be amusing. ...in between his fears of being carried away by the eagle and munched by the monster Nidhog...

The film "Ice Age" and its many sequels features a squirrel named Skrat. Skrat climbs the sides of impossibly high glaciers in search of stray acorns. He's always getting into difficult situations. Once in a while he actually succeeds in getting a nice acorn and enjoying it.

I thought that a beautiful film, allegory for global warming set in an earlier age of it.