Squirrel Brain

Saw this at the Museum of Science, Boston.
The large brain is human; The small one is squirrel :P

Squirrel rummages in backpack

A cute squirrel rummages through a backpack, but senses danger and runs off empty-handed before being chased away.

'Squirrel Facebook' shows three degrees of separation

"Mercedes has got just one "friend" in Theodore Manno's version of Facebook. With nearly 20 friends, Spider is much more popular.

Manno, from the department of biological sciences at Auburn University in Alabama, spent three weeks perched in 4-metre-high observation towers watching 65 Columbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus), including Lava Lamp and Mercedes. By logging interactions between the squirrels he was able to draw up a plan of the squirrels’ social network.

"Friendly interactions" were defined as instances when the squirrels kissed, sniffed, played or groomed each other.

Manno then generated a computer model of the network and looked for sustained companionships – pairs of squirrels that interacted more frequently than would be expected from just random associations.
Closely knit

It turned out that the entire colony of 65 ground squirrels was connected, on average, by three degrees of separation – meaning any two squirrels could be connected by three intermediate animals.

Popular individuals of similar age and reproductive status tended to interact with each other, leaving a few loners on the sidelines of the colony. Six squirrels were not sexually mature, and all six were on the margins of the network."

Read the full article here :
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13495-squirrel-facebook-shows-three-degrees-of-separation.html

Pine martens 'key' to red squirrel defence

"Pine martens may be the key to defending some of the last strongholds of the native red squirrel against invading American greys, according to new research."

"Scotland is host to about 75 per cent of the British population of 160,000 red squirrels, which are under attack from 2.5 million greys, some of which carry the squirrel pox virus which is fatal to the native reds.


"Even in Scotland, red squirrels have already been lost from an extensive area in the Central Belt and are now found primarily in the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Argyll, Perthshire, Grampian and the Highlands.""


The main hope against the American grey squirrel is the Pine Marten, a small type of weasel-like creature. In areas where pine martens have moved in, grey squirrel numbers have dropped. Grey squirrels and pine martens both feed on the forest floor. The theory goes that the pine martens chase away the grey squirrels. The red squirrels feast mainly up in the forest canopy, and are therefore less in competition with the pine martens then they are the grey squirrels. (The grey squirrels and the red squirrels share similar living spaces, while red squirrels and pine martens do not.)http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Read the full story here:

Cute Squirrel Photos!

Okay, not exactly news, but these are some photos of squirrels living by the Charles River in Watertown, MA.

Squirrel evades pepper spray, 5 people treated in city

The title and this quote say it all.

"“When the fire department went in and opened up all of the windows, the squirrel decided to leave,” Williams said. “I guess he figured his work there was done.”"

Read the article here:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/NEWS01/80602002