Squirrel Life 27 - Testing! Testing! - Experiments with Food (Part 1)

Do squirrels really have an excellent sense of smell? Given choices, how do they decide what to eat? In this video we explore squirrel behaviour in the realm of food. I've noticed many behaviours over the years that prompted me to do some experiments. For example, I built the squirrel feeder to see how smart they were and if they could press that lever for food ( See Squirrel Life Part 7 & 8).
Here you will see some different experiments with food to test some of my theories that are based on my observations. I had to do this in two parts with my summary at the end. I have learned a lot about squirrels and hope you find this interesting and quite funny at times. They can be characters!

[@kenc5156]

What surprises me is how aggressive the Red squirrels are and how successful their aggression works against the larger Greys and Blacks.

[@mixer6166]

There's only one grey squirrel that will always take them on and not back down. I will do a video on that at some point.

[@marie_171]

oh wow! No messing around allowed with the squeaky-toy sounding red squirrel.

[@shelleybunton3661]

Red squirrels are hilarious to watch. They’re always chittering and chattering, fussing at everyone. Interesting to see how they stand up to bigger squirrels. They dont take 💩 off of anyone.

[@METATRONANGEL777]

GREAT THANK YOU FOR SHARING!❤❤💘💘💝💝

[@guylaine4992]

I was surprised, because mine will pick almonds and walnuts before the peanuts every time. It was hilarious to see the squirrel leave with the dish 😅.

[@fredmacdonald9339]

its like the tails are directly connected to the gears in the brain

[@mixer6166]

LOL

[@TheRiverweasel09]

Damn! Everyone was scared of loud Boomer up until that last black one. Was nervous at first, but held his ground, neutralized the angry red one under the feeder and then started pushing his own confident aggression. Once he couldn't intimidate the bigger squirrel anymore, he had to give.

[@mixer6166]

Yeah, like so many bullies when someone stands up to them they run away. I see this everyday. Lol. But can’t help but love them. They’re so friggin cute!

[@METATRONANGEL777]

#1. PEANUTS #2: WALNUTS 3. PUMPKIN SEEDS LAST; NWHOLE HAZEL NUT

[@neverendingmods]

My squirrels go crazy for raw hazelnuts. I mean crazy! They absolutely love them. As I type this I have a squirrel clinging to my back door. Looking in for hazelnuts. But I'm out of them. Just peanuts, birdseed, and apple slices. Even some corn but they want hazelnuts. I can get them to climb on me for hazelnuts. They won't do that for anything else. Watching the real young squirrels have their 1st hazelnut is really interesting to watch. They don't know what to do at first. But they watch the older squirrels and figure it out.

[@mixer6166]

That’s so cool! Like someone once said, “Who is the one getting trained here?” 😂

[@scleco93]

My squirrels LOVE walnuts and I was shocked that they don't really care for almonds that much. I thought almonds would be a favorite and they will eat them if that's all there is but they will dig through the feeder looking for walnuts. Macadamia are another favorite but are expensive so they don't get those as often. They are getting pretty spoiled and picky though. They seem to be pretty disgruntled if their favorite nuts are not there in they quantity in which they have become accustomed.

[@mixer6166]

Mine love walnuts too but can't seem to sniff them out. Or almonds or sunflower seeds. They walk right past them. Unless they see them the nuts are safe. Haha. Hilariously, my squirrels at first wouldn't even eat the macadamia nuts I bought them as a very special treat! Eventually they did because that's all they got until they were gone. LOL

[@thesuburbanmorrigan]

Loved this! Very cute, funny, and interesting. I LOL'ed when the first black squirrel ran off with the whole plate of peanuts. I think the food choice is influenced by proximity, to some degree, and therefore how safe it is to go after one food versus another. The squirrels seem to prefer nuts to seeds, which is consistent with what I've observed myself (the exception maybe being whole black-oil sunflower seeds). Do you have blue jays up there? You should see how picky they are with whole peanuts. Rumor has it that they weight the peanuts to select the biggest one.

[@mixer6166]

Thanks! I will wait until part 2 to give my conclusions but you’re basically correct. Yes we have blue jays and yes they wolf down the peanuts. If they weren’t so beautiful I would think they’re a pest like the starlings. Lol.

[@thesuburbanmorrigan]

@@mixer6166 Occasionally the blue jays will play "peanut ball" with me. I toss a peanut out onto the roof outside my office window, and a blue jay swoops down, grabs it, maybe looks at me, then flies off. Then I repeat that with a second, third, and sometimes an even fourth jay. I'm trying to get decent footage of this, but I'm not very good at live filming yet.

[@philipparge8064]

Ever tried dried mealmorms? One of our tassel eared Grey's stole an entire block of them. They should have odor! Also, I saw hazel nuts less than dollar a pound.

[@mixer6166]

Never tried mealworms. Hazelnuts here cost about 8 dollars a pound. You have a great deal there.

[@capri8475]

From my experience, feeding Grey squirrels in the park, almost 100% love walnut and pecan nuts more than peanuts😅 because of bigger size?🙄 Also, I found some squirrels love Brazil nuts very much but some won't eat them at all😐

[@mixer6166]

I think they probably have their individual preferences but will eat anything when they’re hungry. Like people I guess. 😂

[@drskelebone]

I assume you're out watching them as they eat, to get this video, right? Have you thought about "Apex Predator Makes Loud Noise! (and then distributes the first choices to both of them in ridiculous amounts)"? Like, trying to suggest they shouldn't fight, and if they don't fight, they can get however much of the food they liked for free? I wonder if they'd do a "squirrel war" and argue to claim both. Or just be like, "oh, this friend has a job, and can buy nuts in bulk without problems. Feed me, Animal Plutocrat!"

[@mixer6166]

That’s an idea!