Fact Check: Claim spread squirrels in California have turned carnivorous. We hunted down the details
Researchers have found that some squirrels in California have started hunting and eating other animals.
Rating:
In July 2025, a rumor spread across social media that squirrels in California were turning carnivorous, prompting people to search our site for the truth behind the claim.
Multiple Facebook pages (archived), including one with more than 34 million followers (archived), posted an image claiming, "California squirrels are turning carnivorous. They are actively hunting other animals for the first time, study reveals." The image was also shared on Instagram (archived), where it was liked more than 187,000 times.
While the language used in the widely shared image made the story sound more dramatic than reality, it is true a study found that squirrels in a California park were exhibiting carnivorous behavior.
The study, published in December 2024, investigated the behaviors of squirrels at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, California, earlier in the year. However, the researchers had been studying the long-term behavior of squirrels at the park since 2013.
Over a period of 18 days, researchers observed 31 instances of squirrels hunting — defined as the active pursuit of prey — voles within the park. The behavior occurred during a peak in the vole population at the park; in 2024, the vole population peaked seven times higher than the 10-year average.
Jennifer Smith, the lead author of the study and co-leader of the long-term ground squirrels project, said the team "had never seen this behavior before," according to a news release from UC Davis. The other co-leader of the squirrel project, Sonja Wild, had observed hundreds of squirrels in nature and yet she said she could "barely believe" her eyes.
The researchers included a video they recorded of the squirrels hunting voles.
According to the UC Davis news release, the researchers believed the squirrels' behavior was evidence of them being flexible opportunists because the squirrels began hunting voles as the latter became more abundant and the researchers did not see the squirrels hunting any other mammals.
While this was the first time the researchers observed this behavior in the California ground squirrel, which is a distinct species of squirrel related to chipmunks and prairie dogs, it was not the first time scientists had seen any kind of squirrel exhibit such behavior.
Southern flying squirrels, for example, "are considered one of the most carnivorous squirrels because they supplement their diet with eggs, birds, and carrion," according to the National Wildlife Federation. Similarly, in 2022, researchers in Europe presented evidence of a European ground squirrel catching and eating a sparrow.
None of the above squirrels were the kind most commonly seen in American backyards and cities. Those are a kind of tree squirrel called the gray squirrel, the Organizations of American Historians has written.
Kachamakova, Maria, et al. "First Evidence for Active Carnivorous Predation in the European Ground Squirrel." Acta Ethologica, vol. 25, no. 3, Springer Science+Business Media, June 2022, pp. 191–93, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-022-00399-w. Accessed 28 July 2025.
Kerlin, Katherine. "Carnivorous Squirrels Documented in California." UC Davis, 18 Dec. 2024, www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/carnivorous-feeding-squirrels-documented-california. Accessed 28 July 2025.
"Kinds of Squirrels - AAAC Wildlife Removal of Collin County." AAAC Wildlife Removal of Collin County, collin-county.aaacwildliferemoval.com/blog/squirrels/kinds-of-squirrels/. Accessed 28 July 2025.
National Wildlife Federation. "Flying Squirrels | National Wildlife Federation." National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org/educational-resources/wildlife-guide/mammals/flying-squirrels. Accessed 28 July 2025.
Smith, Jennifer. "Behavioral Evolutionary Ecology Research." J.E. Smith Lab, www.jenniferelainesmith.com/research.html. Accessed 28 July 2025.
Smith, Jennifer E., et al. "Vole Hunting: Novel Predatory and Carnivorous Behavior by California Ground Squirrels." Journal of Ethology, Springer Science+Business Media, Dec. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-024-00832-6. Accessed 25 July 2025.
Sonja Wild. "Vole Hunting: Novel Predatory and Carnivorous Behavior by California Ground Squirrels." YouTube, 18 Dec. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyeoulM_GFk. Accessed 28 July 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Heatwaves are melting students' ability to learn these subjects
A massive report studying nearly 14.5 million students in 61 countries found that long-term heat exposure is interfering with students' abilities to learn —and prolonged heat streaks are only getting worse. Why it matters: Increasingly high temperatures are worsening disparate educational outcomes, with the potential for long-term impacts on graduation rates and cognitive ability to grow as the globe continues to warm. Zoom in: The new systematic review of seven studies found that students' cognitive abilities were most likely to be impacted when doing complex tasks like math, over more "simpler ones" like reading. An analysis of over 12,000 U.S. districts found that long-term exposure to high temperatures during the day specifically reduced students' mathematics scores by 11%. Lower-income students are 6.2% more likely to attend schools with inadequate air conditioning when compared to those who live in high-income areas. One study estimated that by 2050, a potential temperature increase of 1.5°C (2.7° F) in the U.S. could reduce the performance of elementary school students, as measured by math and English tests grades, by 9.8%, if no adaptation measures are taken. Yes, but: Adaption by increasing the use of air conditioning appears to be successful at reducing the cognitive effects, as Axios has previously reported. "Without air conditioning, each 1° F increase in school year temperature reduces the amount learned that year by one percent," a separate study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found. A 2024 report from the Center for American Progress estimated that it'll cost more than $4.4 billion nationally for tens of thousands of public schools to install or upgrade energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to meet increased cooling needs. Zoom out: Millions of American children are attending school in "urban heat zones," according to a recent report by environmental advocacy group Climate Central. The group studied America's 65 largest cities, reviewing data collected from nearly 6.2 million enrolled students among more than 12,000 schools. Roughly 76% of students live in places where the built environment around them adds at least an additional 8°F of heat.
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Fly, dive, repeat: Students' amphibious 3D-printed drone goes viral
Four Danish engineering students have captured global attention with their groundbreaking 3D-printed drone that can fly through the air and swim underwater, switching between both with ease. The drone has the potential to reshape search-and-rescue missions, as well as ocean research. The innovative machine was built by applied industrial electronics students Andrei Copaci, Pawel Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Sierocki and Mikolaj Dzwigalo at Aalborg University. It became an internet hit through viral videos showing the drone taking off from beside a pool, diving underwater, swimming around and then flying back up into the air without any help from humans. 4 Close-up of the 3D-printed drone built by Danish electronics students. Youtube/Storyful Viral The secret is in how the drone's propellers work. The blades can change their angle depending on whether the drone is in air or water. When flying, the propellers tilt to create lift. When underwater, they flatten out to cut through the water better and can even spin backward to change direction quickly. This smart design lets the waterproof drone go from flying to swimming and back again in one smooth motion. Unlike other similar projects that need complex moving parts to transform, this drone keeps things simple but effective. 4 Aalborg University students test their drone's seamless transition between air and water. Youtube/Storyful Viral The students built their creation as part of their final college project. They used 3D printing and computer-controlled cutting machines to make the parts, showing how modern tools can help students build amazing things. The team also wrote their own software to control how the drone moves and designed it so parts can be easily swapped out if needed. 4 The drone hovers above the water before diving in for another flawless swim. Youtube/Storyful Viral Associate Professor Petar Durdevic from the university's drone research group helped guide the project. The work has been praised as a great example of what students can achieve when they get hands-on experience with real engineering problems. What made this project really take off was the video footage. The clips show the drone smoothly moving between air and water from different angles, proving it can do this trick over and over again. The videos spread quickly across Instagram, YouTube, and tech news sites, impressing viewers with how seamless the transitions look. The viral clips typically show the same sequence: the drone lifts off near a swimming pool, smoothly enters the water, swims around with precision, then shoots straight back up into flight mode. While other researchers have built drones that work in both air and water, this Danish project stands out because it's simpler and more reliable. Instead of using complicated mechanisms that transform the drone, the team solved the problem with better propeller design that works well in both environments. 4 A poolside view shows the drone transitioning between environments mid-demo. Youtube/Storyful Viral Though still just a prototype, the technology could be useful in many real-world situations. Search and rescue teams could use one device to search from the air and then dive down to help people in the water. Companies that need to inspect ships or offshore structures could check both the parts above and below water in one mission. Scientists studying marine life could use the drone to follow animals or study areas where air and water meet. Military and security forces might find the ability to switch between flying and swimming useful for surveillance missions. The project has gotten attention from engineering teachers and robotics experts worldwide as proof that students can create genuine breakthroughs, not just classroom exercises. The combination of 3D printing, computer-controlled manufacturing and custom programming shows how today's engineering students can turn ambitious ideas into working prototypes.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
International crew bound for space station
NASA and SpaceX launched a four-member crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday for the latest research expedition to the orbiting laboratory. American astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov lifted off at 11:43 am aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule, named Endeavour, has previously flown four NASA missions as well as a private mission. The Crew-11 mission marks the 11th crew rotation mission to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which was created to succeed the Space Shuttle era by partnering with private industry. As part of their six-month stay, the Crew-11 astronauts will simulate Moon landing scenarios that could be encountered near the lunar South Pole under the United States-led Artemis program. Using handheld controllers and multiple display screens, they will test how shifts in gravity affect astronauts' ability to pilot spacecraft, including future lunar landers. Continuously inhabited since 2000, the ISS functions as a vital testbed for research that supports deeper space exploration -- including eventual missions to Mars. Among Crew-11's more colorful cargo items are Armenian pomegranate seeds, which will be compared to a control batch kept on Earth to study how microgravity influences crop growth. The ISS is set to be de-commissioned after 2030, with its orbit gradually lowered until it breaks up in the atmosphere over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, a spacecraft graveyard. Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos has been holding talks with NASA's acting administrator Sean Duffy this week about the station's future. When US-Russia relations nosedived at the start of the Ukraine war, Russia threatened to pull out of ISS cooperation early. But on Thursday, Bakanov confirmed Russia remained committed to de-orbiting in 2030. ia/wd
