California Squirrels Trade Acorns for Raw Flesh as Blue State Drives Even Its Cute Tree-Climbers Insane

California is going more than nuts.

Researchers revealed that California ground squirrels now have an acquired craving for meat, leading them to hunt and devour rodent populations.

Scientists saw these strange patterns of behavior firsthand in June at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, according to a news release from the University of California – Davis about a study recently published in the Journal of Ethology.

Video of the squirrels captured by the researchers showed them pouncing on voles — tiny mouse-like rodents — ripping their flesh, and consuming the small creatures.

One squirrel even held a poor vole in its mouth and vigorously shook it.

There were 74 interactions between squirrels and voles observed by scientists between June 10 and July 30 alone.

Almost half of them ended with the squirrel gorging itself on the vole.

The squirrels managed to kill the voles 55 percent of the time, usually by attacking the neck, but sometimes by targeting other body parts.

Jennifer Smith, an associate professor of biology at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire who spearheaded the study of the aggressive critters, said the findings were nothing less than “shocking.”

“We had never seen this behavior before. Squirrels are one of the most familiar animals to people,” Smith said.

“We see them right outside our windows; we interact with them regularly,” she continued. “Yet here’s this never-before-encountered-in-science behavior that sheds light on the fact that there’s so much more to learn about the natural history of the world around us.”

Sonja Wild, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California Davis who has observed hundreds of squirrels, said she was skeptical when undergraduate students told her about the behavior.

WARNING: The following post contains imagery that some may find offensive.

Vole hunting: novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels

In our new video article in @J_Ethology we document the emergence of this exciting behavior following a population explosion of California voles https://t.co/MSz00Ig87o pic.twitter.com/Wl4HxegFGs

— Sonja Wild (@wild_sonja) December 18, 2024

When she watched the video, she said, “I could barely believe my eyes.”

“From then, we saw that behavior almost every day. Once we started looking, we saw it everywhere.”

“The fact that California ground squirrels are behaviorally flexible and can respond to changes in food availability might help them persist in environments rapidly changing due to the presence of humans,” Wild said.

Smith told CNN in an that the research “radically changes our perception of squirrels, one of the most familiar mammals in the world.”

“In the face of human insults such as climate change and drought, these animals are resilient and have the potential to adapt to live in a changing world.”

California seems to have a tendency to drive people, and apparently also animals, out of their minds.

The past few years have been difficult for the Golden State.

For decades now, residents have endured high taxes and even the occasional earthquake to enjoy picturesque coastlines and beautiful blue skies year-round. None of that is new.

But more recently, we’ve seen lockdowns forced on everyday business owners, elevated levels of homelessness and public drug use, influxes of illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities and more violent crimes and property crimes, many of which go ignored by overwhelmed police officers.

In many ways, the California dream has devolved into a nightmare.

Even the squirrels are starting to take part in the madness.

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