Jeremy Shere

Some snakes like to snack on squirrels. Knowing this, squirrels have come up with some pretty ingenious ways of avoiding their fate as snake food. For example, a grad student at UC Davis recently discovered that California ground squirrels and rock squirrels routinely chew shed rattlesnake skin, mush it up inside their mouths, then lick their fur, smearing the mush on their fur to mask their squirrely scent.

The purpose of doing this, of course, is to fool predatory snakes into thinking they’ve encountered another snake, or at least to confuse them. Donald Owings, at UC Davis, has observed squirrels applying snake odor from soil recently lain upon by snakes.

When it comes to combatting snakes, squirrels have a James Bond-like arsenal of tricks at the ready. Since snakes use infrared vision to detect body heat, squirrels can heat up their tails to make them appear larger and more ferocious than they really are. Squirrels can tell how dangerous a snake is by the sound of its rattle. Plus, California rock and ground squirrels have developed some resistance to snake venom.

It kind of makes you wonder how California rattlers are ever able to enjoy a nice, juicy squirrel for dinner.

Source: Science Daily