Redditor mard86 writes:
My co-worker sent an email saying he would be late because he was trying to untie a squirrel tail knot. I asked for a picture, and he delivered.
Here’s the email that was sent:
I was pressed into squirrel rescue this morning on my way out. 5 young squirrels got tangled in Christmas lights in my neighbor’s yard. We got the lights off, but now their tails are one big knot, so I have to bring them into a rescue place to untie them, as I am unequipped to untie squirrel tail knots. I should be in this afternoon.
I’m totally going to steal this one. I’m going to keep this pic handy too.
Click here to see larger image.
Via reddit
One of the comments to the original posting gave the following useful link about anither case:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.messingerwoods.org/tangledtails.htm
Bob Skinner.
One of the comments to the original posting gave the following useful link about anither case:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.messingerwoods.org/tangledtails.htm
Bob Skinner.
Could this not just be a group of siblings that have been chased away by the doe and for some reason they have come to the ground? They do look startled and confused! Maybe they then slipped into survival mode and started instinctively looking out for predators - but in a circle, I cant say! (although it seems possible to me that an arboreal species like a squirrel caught out on ground might well behave in this manner).
ReplyDeleteThe doe can be very aggressive when its time to leave so she may have even chased them down.
This must be a rare sight though especially on camera, almost as rare as a genuine rat (or squirrel) king. It must be remembered the juveniles have much thinner tails than the adults, so if they were sat round in a circle - facing out tails in - would they not look like this?.
So could this be something quite natural? I cant think how they would all get caught up in Christmas lights causing this effect in he first place unless they were chewing wires and were incredibly stupid - but I'm no "sciurologist". Or maybe this is a first and its a genuine squirrel king (lol). Either way its a great picture and a fantastic " sorry I'm late" excuse.