It's Not What You Think. Crafty Fabricating Squirrel
I first saw this squirrel come out of a trash barrel with the styrofoam cup in his mouth. He lifted it above his head and ran across the road to a grassy area with several trees and a park bench. At the bast of the tree, he wrestled with the cup then began to chip away at the styrofoam on the small end and up the side. At first, I thought that he was after the content on the inside of the drink cup, but that was not the case. It because obvious that he wanted to get the plastic dome lid off the cup, but he also was interested in chipping away at the styrofoam from bottom to top for some other reason. I tried to move a bit closer and he grabbed the cup in his mouth and headed up the tree to the first lower branch. He then continued to chip away at the cup and at one point, you could see that he had cleared the entire bottom of the cup away. He then continued to work on the side and was tugging the lid against the side of the tree's bark. Finally, he got the lid to fall and the styrofoam was a neat half roll piece. He then carried it to the top of the tree to a nest he was working on. That's when it hit me that the crafty little guy had discovered somewhere down the line that styrofoam was a good insulator against cold and heat. WIth it in his nest for winter, he will have a snuggley little net all warm and lined with fur and styrofoam. Aminal behavior is amazing when we observe and figure out what they have figured out. I have new found respect for this crafty little squirrel and he will pass this along to generations after him. Some time in the future, don't be surprised to see a styrofoam house and no leaves and branches on the outside.
Size: 3648px × 2736px
Location: Dallas
Photo credit: © dallaspaparazzo / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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