THE ANIMAL FILES

Eastern gray squirrel

Sciurus carolinensis

A squirrel can use landmarks as well as smell to retrieve a buried nut.

Eastern gray squirrels scatter food across many small caches. Spatial memory and smell both contribute to recovery, while tail movements and calls carry social information. Their diet extends beyond nuts to fungi and occasional animal foods.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Eastern gray squirrel
Image: Dominic Nelson · Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Storage
Many dispersed caches[1]
Recovery
Spatial landmarks and smell[1]
Diet
Omnivorous[1]

A map of small stores

Caches may be retrieved quickly and moved, or left for months. Squirrels use nearby and distant landmarks to remember locations, while smell helps uncover buried food. Scent becomes less reliable in some ground conditions, including snow cover. Finding a store is therefore not simply a matter of sniffing randomly until a nut appears.[1]

A burial that contains no nut

Observed squirrels sometimes dig and cover a site while retaining the food in their mouths, particularly when watched. Such false caching can make a visible burial sequence a poor guide for a would-be thief. This behaviour does not by itself settle the broader question of whether squirrels understand another animal’s mental state.[1]

Tail and voice together

Tail flicks and calls occur around predators, while softer contact sounds appear between mothers and young or during courtship. Visual and vocal signals are used differently in different environments. Nuts, seeds and fruits are major foods, but insects, eggs and other animal material can also be eaten.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Is every apparently buried nut really underground?

No. False caching can leave a covered site empty while the squirrel keeps the food.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why would memory remain useful when snow weakens scent clues?

Reveal the explanation

Remembered landmarks can guide the squirrel toward a stored location even when smell is less informative.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Sciurus carolinensis (adapted and translated; exact revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Sciurus carolinensis (identity and game lineage)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

Red squirrelA red squirrel need not be red, and its tail has more than one job.Sciurus vulgaris ↗GroundhogA groundhog’s winter is an active physiological change, not just a long nap.Marmota monax ↗Eastern chipmunkCheek pouches carry provisions, not proof of a secret earth-moving scheme.Tamias striatus ↗