Squirrels... eating RATS?!
August 10, 2013 11:19 AM
Is it normal for a squirrel to eat a rat?
I saw this last night and it has been troubling me ever since. I saw a squirrel running along as I parked my car at a local park. I noticed that the large thing he had in his mouth, was actually a smallish rat (I could tell from the tail it wasn't a mouse, not to mention it was bigger than the average mouse around here). He then stopped directly in front of my car and proceeded to dig into the rat. It was quite disturbing. He didn't budge when I honked my horn, so we moved spots. He then ran past us to the base of a tree across the street, and finished eating the rat. I was so freaked out that I kept watching him to make sure he wasn't coming at us as we got our picnic things together. I am not sure if the rat was still alive when we first saw him. I noticed that the tail was moving in a circular motion, but I couldn't tell if it was struggling or if it was just the motion of the squirrel running that was moving it.
Is this normal!?!?I tried to google it, to mixed results. The best that I could find said that it is possible they can be driven to eating other rodents if they were very hungry, and their wasn't much else. This was in the middle of a large city park, full of trees, and next to the city zoo, that presumably has lots of scraps to pick up for such animals. What was wrong with this thing??
I saw this last night and it has been troubling me ever since. I saw a squirrel running along as I parked my car at a local park. I noticed that the large thing he had in his mouth, was actually a smallish rat (I could tell from the tail it wasn't a mouse, not to mention it was bigger than the average mouse around here). He then stopped directly in front of my car and proceeded to dig into the rat. It was quite disturbing. He didn't budge when I honked my horn, so we moved spots. He then ran past us to the base of a tree across the street, and finished eating the rat. I was so freaked out that I kept watching him to make sure he wasn't coming at us as we got our picnic things together. I am not sure if the rat was still alive when we first saw him. I noticed that the tail was moving in a circular motion, but I couldn't tell if it was struggling or if it was just the motion of the squirrel running that was moving it.
Is this normal!?!?I tried to google it, to mixed results. The best that I could find said that it is possible they can be driven to eating other rodents if they were very hungry, and their wasn't much else. This was in the middle of a large city park, full of trees, and next to the city zoo, that presumably has lots of scraps to pick up for such animals. What was wrong with this thing??
I am pretty confident that it wasn't a baby squirrel. I looked up photos to make sure. The tail wasn't fluffy, and was pretty rat like. Also the fur was darker than it would have been.
posted by Quincy at 11:40 AM on August 10, 2013
posted by Quincy at 11:40 AM on August 10, 2013
Squirrels are omnivorous (for example, they engage in cannibalistic behaviour).
posted by KokuRyu at 11:44 AM on August 10, 2013
posted by KokuRyu at 11:44 AM on August 10, 2013
Baby squirrels are born naked and totally helpless — they don't even leave the nest for seven or eight weeks. And squirrels breed twice a year, once in the winter and once in June or August, so perhaps what you saw was a baby squirrel that hadn't got its fur in yet.
posted by orange swan at 11:45 AM on August 10, 2013
posted by orange swan at 11:45 AM on August 10, 2013
Squirrels as a species also engage in heterogeneous behaviour across species (to a certain extent), so it helps to know the variety of squirrel you saw.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:59 AM on August 10, 2013
posted by KokuRyu at 11:59 AM on August 10, 2013
I found quite a bit of information when I searched for squirrel eating carrion. It seems they can be quite adventurous when opportunity arises.
posted by BenPens at 12:03 PM on August 10, 2013
posted by BenPens at 12:03 PM on August 10, 2013
I saw squirrels eat baby birds in my backyard. It was truly disgusting. I see no reason why a rat would offend their palate.
posted by vincele at 1:06 PM on August 10, 2013
posted by vincele at 1:06 PM on August 10, 2013
Yes, it's normal. Squirrels and chipmunks sometimes eat meat - either things they find dead or things they kill themselves, as described in this journal article. My sister and I once watched a chipmunk eating a dead bird in her yard. A rat would probably be pretty hard for a squirrel to kill, so my guess is that the squirrel found it dead or nearly dead.
posted by Redstart at 1:28 PM on August 10, 2013
posted by Redstart at 1:28 PM on August 10, 2013
Thanks guys! I know it was a bit of a silly question, but it was really troubling me. That article its really helpful.
posted by Quincy at 3:50 PM on August 10, 2013
posted by Quincy at 3:50 PM on August 10, 2013
My father once saw a squirrel kill a rat by biting it on the neck like some kind of vampire. It was a roof rat, and it was climbing around in a tree (which puts it at a disadvantage to the much more agile squirrel). It didn't eat it though.
posted by eye of newt at 10:29 PM on August 10, 2013
posted by eye of newt at 10:29 PM on August 10, 2013
I've photographed a squirrel dragging the back half of a dead squirrel around so I wouldn't put anything past the furry little bastards.
posted by telophase at 8:33 AM on August 13, 2013
posted by telophase at 8:33 AM on August 13, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by roofus at 11:31 AM on August 10, 2013