An abundance of voles in California park apparently brought out the beast in ground squirrels.
In the summer of 2024, students taking part in a research project in Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County took videos of an unexpected behavior among ground squirrels. The squirrels — which mostly chow down on insects, seeds, and bird eggs — began hunting and eating voles, according to a paper published in the Journal of Ethology.
It so happens the population of voles had reached a cyclical peak and there were roughly seven times more of the rodents than usual. Researchers don't know if the squirrels were just taking advantage of an easy meal, or if this marks a long-term change in their behavior.
