Can Squirrels Predict How Bad Winter Will Be?

Throughout history, wildlife citizens have been interesting subjects for human beings to marvel over. Due to their entertaining habits and endearing appearance, squirrels are among the favourite wildlife species for human amusement. Naturally, over time, some weird and sometimes ridiculous squirrel myths have emerged. Among these myths are those that are related to the idea of squirrels as expert weather forecasters. This winter as you watch squirrels prepare for the cold weather, bear in mind that this could also lead to squirrel removal services to get them out of your Oshawa home.

Are Squirrels Nature’s Meteorologists?

Do squirrels really predict bad weather? Are squirrels truly capable of telling beforehand how harsh the winter will be? Many believe they are. While they are unable to chart wind speeds and discern patterns that indicate a change in weather, they do appear to have a built-in weather predictor - their instincts. Most of the assumptions about squirrels and the weather-related to squirrel behaviour just before the winter. Some people believe that squirrels change their pre-winter activities when the winter is going to be particularly intense. One popular belief is that when squirrels build their nests high in trees, the coming winter will be pretty harsh. But the lower the nests are, the milder winter will be, or so goes the lore. Imagine how many people, before the advent of modern meteorology, spent hours watching squirrels to see exactly where the secretive foragers were setting up shop! The poor little animals must have been unimpressed, considering that squirrels aren’t fond of being watched. Some people speculate that squirrel pudginess also tells what kind of winter we can expect. If squirrels seem especially plump, we should expect a harsh winter. Presumably because the squirrels, sensing a harsh winter ahead, work more feverishly to accumulate extra body mass beforehand. Another one is that when squirrels forage eagerly and frantically, there is a harsh winter ahead. All of these activities are routine pre-winter behaviours for squirrels but people have, over time, associated them with what they speculate to be special winter detecting skills in squirrels.

Cracking the Nut Wide Open

In a nutshell, though, the jury is still out on whether these bushy-tailed bright-eyed furry animals can truly predict which type of winter that lies ahead. Science is yet to find any hard evidence that squirrels possess some built-in weather-predicting devices, but they also haven’t found anything to support it either. In fact, they’ve figured that much of the behaviours that people attribute to squirrels predicting the weather are really nothing more than squirrels responding to their survival instincts. So what does it all boil down to? Well, squirrels, like many other wildlife species will put a bit, or at times a lot of extra effort into preparing for the winter. This means that they will scurry about gathering nuts and seeking warm refuge and their activities are prone to variation. But this is no guarantee that squirrels have special winter predicting abilities. Oshawa residents should, of course, be prepared for squirrel intrusion this and every winter, because, like other wildlife, squirrels are known to find their way indoors.

Keeping Squirrels Out This and Every Winter

Squirrels may not be the weather experts that many people believe them to be. One thing’s for certain though, squirrels often head for warm spaces such as your home as winter approaches. If you’re worried about squirrel intrusion this winter, you need the Skedaddle team. When Skedaddle steps on the scene, your squirrel removal issues will be resolved efficiently and your Oshawa will be back to normal in no time.