Lots of news outlets — from “People” to “Popular Science” — recently carried a story about squirrels eating meat. I’m not sure if it was considered “holiday” news or just a light alternative to politics.
In any case, it was presented as radically new information.
But, shucks, I learned that decades ago when I found a squirrel eating a baby bird. The shocking revelation for me was that my childhood Golden Book of Animals did not tell me this!
In the recent spate of stories, a few sources, including NPR of course, went a little bit deeper and explained that what’s really new about this research is that it documents the entire process of numerous squirrels hunting, killing, and then eating voles, small rodents that look similar to mice.
In fairness to my Little Golden book, and to my own radio essays, it’s hard to present complete information when you have time or space constraints.
I’ve encountered many unusual things while wandering around Michigan, not just squirrels eating meat.
I saw a hawk being chased by crows take a moment to stash a dead mallard in a tree. I stumbled on vast piles of bright green stink bugs on the beach as far as the eye could see. I heard a mysterious sound that turned out to be ants underneath the bark of a red pine gnawing channels in the wood.
Were these one-of-a-kind events? No. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
It makes me wonder what I miss when I’m not outside.