Do Omaha Squirrels Remember Where They Hide Their Nuts?

Squirrels can be seen everywhere burying their seeds and nuts. It is quite fun to watch them pat the ground using their tiny paws. Experts believe that they will have to store food that will help them guarantee that there will be enough food for them for 8-9 months. This will ensure them that they will be able to survive the winter season.



How Omaha Squirrels Remember Where They Buried Their Food

People used to believe that the Nebraska squirrels are thoughtlessly burying their foods and hope to sniff that place in the future. Squirrels have been commonly known for burying nuts and forgetting the place where they bury them. In fact, the nuts will eventually turn into tree if they forgot the location of their food stash. However, as more researches are being conducted about squirrels, they found out several amazing things about the creature.

They Are Not Really Forgetful

The Nebraska squirrels are not exactly as forgetful as we'd like to believe they are. In one study, 8 grey squirrels have been given at least 10 hazelnuts each. They were then released into the outdoors and were observed as they burry the nuts. After 2-12 days, they found out that the squirrels returned to the area where they store their food. The researchers learned that the squirrels have uncovered more hazelnuts in this area compare to the sites used by the other squirrels. They might forget some of the location but remembering most of them would be an incredible feat.

Not All Squirrels Will Burry Nuts

While Omaha squirrels have always been known for burying their foods, understand that not all of them will bury the nuts. The grey squirrels are known for burying walnuts and acorns. However, the red squirrels have a different way of storing their food. As you probably know, this behavior will have different effect with the environment. Since the grey squirrel will not recover all the nuts, this will eventually turn into tree. On the contrary, the red squirrel will be storing the foods they hoarded above the ground.

How Grey Squirrels Found the Buried Foods

As we mentioned above, the Nebraska grey squirrel will not be able to uncover all the nuts they've buried. Squirrels will only be remembering the 26% of the buried nuts. This means that majority of the nuts they buried have the potential to grow into a tree. The squirrels will be using clues in order to find the nuts. You will be surprised to know that squirrels will not randomly bury their foods. They will look for a place that comes with a ‘landmark' such as a giant log, huge stone, or any marker. This will help them remember their storing area.

Once the squirrel returns to this place, they will use their spatial recognition to look for Omaha soil that has been disturbed. They also have an amazing sense of smell that enables them to identify any nutty smell that will guide them to the location of their stash. They can even determine a nut even if it is buried in a pile of snow using their sense of smell.



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