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Yes, squirrels really are extra fat this year, as they keep foraging, feasting and storing calories at a time when we usually have snow and frozen ground.
“What a year for fat squirrels! Have you seen some of these guys? They’re colossal,” marvelled Dan Brunton, a naturalist and environmental consultant in Ottawa.
“I called my son down to see the woodchuck in the back yard, and he said, ‘What woodchuck?’ ” Brunton was messing around. It was a squirrel.
“But really, I think squirrels are obese this year.”
Brunton doesn’t mean they’re unhealthy. The extra fat will wear off over the winter, and until then it will give individual squirrels a better chance of survival, he said.
“If it’s really, really cold, squirrels won’t do much. They just snooze out for three or four days. Well, they’re using up energy to do that. So it’s really to their advantage to bulk up.
“But I don’t know what it is about this year. It’s really comically noticeable.
“Most animals that have long periods of inactivity over the winter will bulk up as much as they can. Raccoons will do that too. They look like caricatures and they waddle around. By spring, they ain’t waddling no more.”
For the record, the weather has been incredibly mild for December. The normal high and low for this time of year in Ottawa are -2 C and -10 C. But we’ve had just a single night below -3 C, and every day so far has been above freezing — often by seven or eight degrees.
At Carleton University, biologist Mike Runtz says food, not weather, may be the key. This fall the trees are full of squirrel food.
“I think equally or even more important is an abundant crop of tree fruit and nuts this fall,” he said in an email. “Fruit trees are loaded, Manitoba Maples are full of keys, there was a huge crop of Black Walnut nuts, etc. I have seen numerous Gray Squirrels sitting up in trees feasting away over the past few weeks.
“So favourable environmental conditions (less fat being burned for fuel, more time for foraging) plus an abundant food source could well lead to fatter squirrels.”
He cautioned that he has not compared squirrel sizes against previous years.
A very strong El Niño has formed in the Pacific Ocean, and is expected to make winter milder in much of North America.
Brunton cautioned that a mild winter wouldn’t necessarily be good for the squirrels and other wildlife if it leaves a light cover of snow. They need snow to insulate from the cold, he said.
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
“What a year for fat squirrels! Have you seen some of these guys? They’re colossal,” marvelled Dan Brunton, a naturalist and environmental consultant in Ottawa.
“I called my son down to see the woodchuck in the back yard, and he said, ‘What woodchuck?’ ” Brunton was messing around. It was a squirrel.
“But really, I think squirrels are obese this year.”
Brunton doesn’t mean they’re unhealthy. The extra fat will wear off over the winter, and until then it will give individual squirrels a better chance of survival, he said.
“If it’s really, really cold, squirrels won’t do much. They just snooze out for three or four days. Well, they’re using up energy to do that. So it’s really to their advantage to bulk up.
“But I don’t know what it is about this year. It’s really comically noticeable.
“Most animals that have long periods of inactivity over the winter will bulk up as much as they can. Raccoons will do that too. They look like caricatures and they waddle around. By spring, they ain’t waddling no more.”
For the record, the weather has been incredibly mild for December. The normal high and low for this time of year in Ottawa are -2 C and -10 C. But we’ve had just a single night below -3 C, and every day so far has been above freezing — often by seven or eight degrees.
At Carleton University, biologist Mike Runtz says food, not weather, may be the key. This fall the trees are full of squirrel food.
“I think equally or even more important is an abundant crop of tree fruit and nuts this fall,” he said in an email. “Fruit trees are loaded, Manitoba Maples are full of keys, there was a huge crop of Black Walnut nuts, etc. I have seen numerous Gray Squirrels sitting up in trees feasting away over the past few weeks.
“So favourable environmental conditions (less fat being burned for fuel, more time for foraging) plus an abundant food source could well lead to fatter squirrels.”
He cautioned that he has not compared squirrel sizes against previous years.
A very strong El Niño has formed in the Pacific Ocean, and is expected to make winter milder in much of North America.
Brunton cautioned that a mild winter wouldn’t necessarily be good for the squirrels and other wildlife if it leaves a light cover of snow. They need snow to insulate from the cold, he said.
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
