Quick Take
- A gray squirrel's food-hoarding skills are staggering, and those same skills are exactly what make this ice cream heist feel inevitable. See the heist unfold →
- The squirrel isn't just holding the cone. What it's actually doing with it looks uncomfortably human. Watch the squirrel eat →
- That one lick of ice cream looks harmless, but wildlife agencies have a specific warning about exactly this kind of moment. Read the wildlife warning →
- Squirrels have a surprisingly long list of enemies, yet one unexpected advantage keeps them alive. Meet squirrels' predators →
Squirrels are ingenious little animals. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, a gray squirrel can store about 10,000 seeds and nuts in a single year, often spreading them among roughly 1,000 caches at a time. With that kind of talent for finding and stashing food, perhaps it should not be surprising that the squirrel in the video below managed to score a very different kind of afternoon snack.
Watch the Video Below!
Squirrel Eating in the Park
The Instagram reel shown above captures a squirrel enjoying an unusual snack at a park. The Animals Doing Things Instagram page shared the video and regularly features clips of animals such as seals, pigs, kangaroos, raccoons, and horses.
Squirrels Love Ice Cream Too
As the video starts, we see a woman sitting in a park enjoying an ice cream cone. She makes a funny face before slowly turning the camera toward a squirrel sitting on a tiny bench. The squirrel has an ice cream cone of its own and appears quite happy to lick away at the frozen treat. It makes for an amusing video, but ice cream is not part of a squirrel’s natural diet.
Is It Okay to Feed Squirrels Sweets?
As entertaining as the scene is, intentionally feeding wild squirrels ice cream or other human foods is not recommended. Wildlife agencies generally advise people not to feed wild animals because human foods may not provide the nutrition they need and repeated feeding can encourage animals to become accustomed to people.
Squirrel diets vary by species, but many eat nuts, seeds, fruits, berries, fungi, buds, and other plant material. Some also eat insects, eggs, and other animal matter when the opportunity arises. Their nutritional needs are very different from ours, so a food that tastes good to a squirrel is not necessarily good for it.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warns that feeding wild animals human or pet food can leave them without the nutrients they need and can also cause them to become too comfortable around people. That does not mean one lick of ice cream is automatically disastrous, but routinely feeding squirrels sweets or other processed foods is best avoided.
What Animals Hunt Squirrels?
Bobcats are among the many predators that prey on squirrels.
©Cate-Scott-Powell/iStock via Getty Images
There are more than 200 species of squirrels worldwide. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, and prairie dogs, so these animals vary considerably in size, habitat, and behavior.
Because squirrels include such a diverse group of animals, their weights also vary dramatically by species. The familiar eastern gray squirrel typically weighs around a pound, while members of the broader squirrel family range from tiny species weighing only ounces to much larger species weighing several pounds. Like many small mammals, squirrels also have plenty of natural enemies. The National Park Service lists predators of eastern gray squirrels including birds of prey, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, snakes, and domestic cats. Fortunately for squirrels, speed, agility, tree-climbing ability, and a strong sense of their surroundings give them plenty of ways to escape.
