I recently read a fun article titled ” Squirrels Actually Organize Their Nut Hoard — Here’s Why” in which the author cites several studies regarding how tree squirrels store food for winter. It turns out that squirrels have an elaborate process for deciding where they store their food.
Squirrels bury their food. They don’t keep it in their nests. So they typically hide it in the ground. Maybe nature has taught them if it’s too close, the temptation may be too great to eat it now, leaving none for leaner times. They also store different types of foods, even different types of nuts, in a specific area for each type. Scientist at the Royal Society of Open Science believe that squirrels use a mnemonic technique called “spatial chunking” to sort out and bury their nut stores by size, type, and perhaps even nutritional value and taste. So does nature somehow equip the squirrel with the ability to allocate certain reserves for specific needs or desires? It almost sounds too amazing to be true. But wait, there’s more. The article goes on to describe how squirrels will purposely place (I guess what squirrels consider) a “premium” nut into a high-risk location, such as an open field. Scientist theorize that the fear of predators in these locations helps to deter other squirrels from foraging for food to dig-up. But, could it be that the high-risk location is also used to deter the temptation of digging it up and using it before it’s needed?
I guess we may never know for sure why squirrels do what they do. I just now have a whole new respect for squirrelly behavior. After all couldn’t we all take steps to:
- Create some savings for a rainy day.
- Prioritize our needs and wants.
- Make it a little more difficult to get to our savings.
- Recognize our risks and learn how to use them to our advantage.
These topics, and many more, are discussed in my upcoming book (formally being released next month). Written as a guide for organizing your home and life, it not only details how to accomplish many household tasks, it describes why each task is important and how they work together to gain control over the everyday chaos which life brings.
Thanks again for reading.
And remember to take the next step…
Mitch
To read the article about our foraging squirrel friends, go to https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/squirrels-really-organize-nuts.htm.