Proverb: The greedy squirrel loses a nut

November 18, 2013 • 11:05 am

I have a game I play with my squirrels now. I lure one to the windowsill with peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds, and then, when it’s done nommng those and wants more, I approach the window with a hazelnut and an almond (big treats for a squirrel). I brandish the nuts behind the window, and the squirrel outside sees them and gets excited, pressing his paws against the glass. I then open the window, which scares the squirrel a few feet away (it ducks around the ledge near the windowsill), and I place the hazelnut and the almond on the sill.  I then close the window and wait for the fun.

At this time of year the squirrels appear to be caching more nuts than they eat, for winter is coming on and they need to store their noms.  When there’s a surfeit of big nuts, they try to cram as many in their mouths as they can before they run off to hide them. (I’ve seen a squirrel put three peanuts in its mouth at once.)  But this is nearly impossible with a hazelnut and an almond, as both don’t easily fit in a squirrel maw. But that doesn’t stop them from trying, and it’s hilarious to watch.

This guy wants to carry both nuts away, but goes through buccal acrobatics to get the nuts into his mouth. He finally succeeds, but then drops the hazelnut off the ledge as he runs away.

Aren’t I mean?

There are a number of fables throughout the world about similar costs of being greedy.

21 thoughts on “Proverb: The greedy squirrel loses a nut”

    1. My German Shepherd managed three tennis balls back in the day. he was extremely proud, but secretly he looked like a complete eejit. 😀

  5. Have you tried out what he does when faced with a choice of a hazelnut and some peanuts? Is he seduced by the super stimulus of the hazel or does he conclude the peanuts are a better return on effort?

    I guess anything that he doesn’t carry away to cache risks being taken by a competitor?

    1. They prefer hazelnuts above all else, and will pick out the hazelnut from a pile of peanuts–or anything else. . But I’ve never seen them try to put a hazelnut and a peanut in their mouth at the same time.

      1. Here in Switzerland, they favour walnuts above all, but don’t try to stuff them in their mouths but eat them on the spot. They are red squirrels, by the way.

        1. The red squirrels that exploit my walnuts in northern Germany take away and bury far more than they eat on the spot. Quite a lot germinate every spring in my small garden, but I see small walnut trees over quite a large area; there are, though, other walnut trees around.

      2. Very funny video. I’m surprised he took so long in trying.

        They really like Brazil nuts, too.

        I just spent the entire morning listening to a white-footed mouse carrying a hickory nut all over the house from the attic at 7am to the basement at 10am. He finally dropped it in the basement laundry tub twice and has given up the cause. It’s funny to watch their routes.

  6. Hmmm – Me thinks he picked a good landing spot, dropped it on purpose and raced it to the ground! (o;

    1. I swear to G*ds no matter how novel an idea I have, someone in the comments of this website will at least tangentially hit it. It usually cuts down on my comment numbers, this time I’m going to go with it anyway.

      My thought after watching the squirrel but, before reading your comment was:

      Oh lookie, that squirrel is having a deepak moment.

  13. Jerry: Just stumbled on a pic I think you’d find amusing, of a squirrel seemingly exultantly praising/beseeching the almightily confounding ceiling cat, but I don’t do Twit & if there’s access to an email-address here I can’t find it… gimme an email holler & I’d be happy to share…
    w
    nonof -underscore- urbiz -at- sbcglobal -dot- net

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