Posted on 02/13/2019 11:25:28 AM PST by ETL
A young squirrel lucky enough to take over territory from an adult male squirrel is like a teenager falling into a big inheritance, according to a new University of Guelph study.
Researchers found male squirrels store more food than females, and if a young squirrel leaving the nest nabs a storage spot previously owned by a male squirrel, they will increase their lifetime pup production by 50 per cent.
"It's like buying a home and finding a big pile of money buried in the walls," said integrative biology professor Andrew McAdam, who worked on the study with lead author David Fisher, a former U of G post doc. "The previous owner of where you live can significantly impact how well off you are, at least in the squirrel world."
Published in the journal Ecology Letters, the study involved hundreds of North American red squirrels.
It is part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a long-term study in the Yukon investigating the ecology and evolution of red squirrels. Started by the University of Alberta in 1987, the project brings together scientists from several universities, including the University of Guelph, University of Michigan, and University of Saskatchewan to monitor behaviour and reproduction of hundreds of individually marked squirrels.
For this study, Fisher and colleagues measured the food stores and reproductive outcome of young squirrels that took over real estate previously owned by either males or females who disappeared.
Squirrels collect spruce cones in the fall and store them in the ground in a "midden" for winter. A hoard can contain more than 20,000 cones, and they can remain edible for several years, said Fisher
There are more bust than boom years, so if squirrels don't store enough in the boom years they won't have enough food to survive the bust years."
It's common for squirrels to take over the territories of other squirrels after they die and in taking over another squirrel's territory, they also inherit their food stores, added Fisher.
"We have seen a food store last as long as 31 years—as long as we have been studying these squirrels—and owned by 13 different squirrels over that time period," said McAdam.
In this study, researchers found that if a squirrel inherits its territory from a male rather than a female, it will have around 1,300 more cones on average in its midden. This stored energy will keep the squirrel alive for an extra 17 days.
The study also revealed that squirrels at their prime, which is three to four years old, have more cones than younger and older squirrels. This difference means squirrels that inherit their territory from a squirrel that died in mid-age inherit a larger cone store than those that inherit from a young or old squirrel.
"If a female squirrel is lucky enough to take over this prime real estate, then she will have lots of food, which allows her to breed earlier," said McAdam. "This means her offspring will leave the nest early and they will have improved survival rates. Essentially, it will improve this squirrel's genetic contribution to the next generation."
These finding show how the behavior of one squirrel can impact the genetic contribution to the population of another squirrel they have never met, said Fisher.
"Ultimately, the food hoarding behaviour of a squirrel you have never met, and that may have even died before you were born, can impact your chances of survival."
Explore further: Early squirrel gets the real estate, study finds
More information: David N. Fisher et al, Indirect effects on fitness between individuals that have never met via an extended phenotype, Ecology Letters (2019). DOI: 10.1111/ele.13230
Journal reference: Ecology Letters 
Evicted and homeless
Squirrels = Fuzzy-tailed rats.
Preppers!
Obviously, a sexist article.
I like your home page very much. Tree rats, not so much.
I have a nice collection of squirrel photos. We have 11 acres of mostly hardwood. We were inundated with fox squirrels, way too many. Just a few red squirrels. Neighbors a little ways north and south had some black ones but in over 30 years here we never saw any on our property. Last summer we went on a fox squirrel elimination program. 10 gallon bucket half filled with water and floated striped sunflower seeds on top. We lost count. Dozens and dozens plus just as many chipmunks and many mice. This fall we noticed a few black squirrels for the first time. I am sure after reading this that they moved in and found food hoards that they inherited. They are nicer to look at, easier to spot and don’t even get near the house. Two at least were a mated pair so maybe some babies this spring.
I see no reason to protest anthropomorphic idealism invading the scientific principles. After all we have to believe Climate Change is man caused so why not issue mortgages to squirrells
...squirrel....
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