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Squirrels Accurately Predict Bumper Harvests
New Scientist ^ | 12-21-2006 | Roxanne Khamsi

Posted on 12/21/2006 3:49:48 PM PST by blam

Squirrels accurately predict bumper harvests

19:00 21 December 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi

Squirrels can somehow predict which years trees will produce massive amounts of seed, a new study reveals. The animals produce an extra litter of pups months ahead of these unusually large harvests, researchers report.

The scientists analysed 16 years of data on American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) populations in Yukon, Canada.

As part of the experiment, Andrew McAdam of Michigan State University and his colleagues lured the animals into traps with peanut butter and then tagged them. The team periodically recaptured the squirrels and assessed whether the females were pregnant or not.

They also recorded the amount of cones produced by spruce trees in the area. The edible seed inside these cones is the red squirrels' primary food.

The number of cones produced by the spruce trees in autumn varies widely from year to year. A single spruce tree might produce 10 cones one year, but more than 500 the next. By producing very few cones some years, the trees starve their seed predators, giving themselves an evolutionary advantage.

But McAdams and his teammates noticed a curious trend: While squirrels typically mate in January and give birth to their pups from March, they would also produce a second litter in the spring ahead of a bumper cone harvest.

(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: evolution; harvests; predict; squirrels; squirrelwar
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1 posted on 12/21/2006 3:49:50 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

This is just nuts!


2 posted on 12/21/2006 3:55:36 PM PST by pipecorp ( Al Lahsucks boat steersman hell)
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To: blam

The rodent with a nuts flush.....

Meadow Muffin


3 posted on 12/21/2006 3:57:35 PM PST by rwgal
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To: blam

"The animals produce an extra litter of pups months ahead of these unusually large harvests"

http://www.squirrels.org/faq.html#Q22

"They are called babies or infants while in the nest. Then for their first year they're referred to as Juveniles. After their first year, they become adults and are simply called squirrels."

I've never heard them called "pups"


4 posted on 12/21/2006 3:58:09 PM PST by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for SSgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: pipecorp

Yep, nuts.


5 posted on 12/21/2006 3:58:54 PM PST by Rb ver. 2.0
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To: blam

Around here, squirrels just drive my dogs nuts!


6 posted on 12/21/2006 3:59:44 PM PST by sissyjane (Don't be stuck on stupid!)
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To: blam
Squirrels accurately predict bumper harvests

OK, it's a good trick, but can they forecast the NYSE and NASDAQ?
(/sarc)
7 posted on 12/21/2006 4:00:26 PM PST by VOA
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To: sissyjane

I've never seen dog nuts with steering wheels.


8 posted on 12/21/2006 4:00:59 PM PST by pipecorp ( Al Lahsucks boat steersman hell)
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To: blam
Squirrels can somehow predict which years trees will produce massive amounts of seed, a new study reveals.

Simple, they have better polling service than RATs.

9 posted on 12/21/2006 4:02:21 PM PST by Leo Carpathian (ffffFReeeePeee!)
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To: blam
Time to get jiggy sweetheat. The harvest will be good this year.


10 posted on 12/21/2006 4:05:10 PM PST by packrat35 (guest worker/day worker=SlaveMart)
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To: blam
The animals might also notice more of these cone buds in the spring ahead of the harvest and have an extra litter based on this visual cue.
Gee, ya think?? So much for these squirrels' "predictions".
11 posted on 12/21/2006 4:08:17 PM PST by Bob
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To: pipecorp

No, it's squirrelly.


12 posted on 12/21/2006 4:08:52 PM PST by SuzyQue (Remember to think.)
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To: blam
I bet it's due to their annual harvest dance!
13 posted on 12/21/2006 4:11:53 PM PST by Paddlefish ("Why should I have to WORK for everything?! It's like saying I don't deserve it!")
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To: blam

Ya know what the Squirrel said when he ran up a womans leg?


"No nuts, no limbs, its gonna be a long cold hard winter."


14 posted on 12/21/2006 4:13:32 PM PST by crz
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To: blam

mmmmm, Squirrel dumplins mmmmmm.


15 posted on 12/21/2006 4:20:56 PM PST by southernerwithanattitude ({new and improved redneck})
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To: Bob; blam; All
"McAdam suspects that the animals might detect higher levels of certain hormones in the cone buds that appear on the trees a year before the large harvest."

Rather than "detecting" the hormone, perhaps a plant hormone present in the cone buds in greater concentration before a bumper harvest actually increases the reproductive fertility of the squirrels when ingested.

That's my wild theory and I'm sticking to it. Don't try to dissuade me with facts and data. :-)

16 posted on 12/21/2006 4:30:34 PM PST by Unmarked Package
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To: blam; Aetius; Alamo-Girl; AndrewC; APFel; Asphalt; Aussie Dasher; AnalogReigns; Baraonda; ...
"Squirrels can somehow predict which years trees will produce massive amounts of seed, a new study reveals. The animals produce an extra litter of pups months ahead of these unusually large harvests, researchers report."

Another nail in the lifeless corpse of evolutionism.

17 posted on 12/21/2006 4:31:02 PM PST by editor-surveyor
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To: blam

Baby squirrels? Huh. I usually hold them by the tip of their tails and swung them around like a Kreskin Crystal.

APf


18 posted on 12/21/2006 4:33:12 PM PST by APFel (You too can take Dylan Thomas out of context! Ask me how!)
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To: blam

They actually harvest bumpers?


19 posted on 12/21/2006 4:37:25 PM PST by SmithL (Where are we going? . . . . And why are we in this handbasket????)
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To: editor-surveyor

I guess squirrels are losers in the annual competition for the Darwin Award? :)


20 posted on 12/21/2006 4:41:57 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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