How squirrels sort nuts in hiding places

Squirrels store thousands of rainy day nuts every year. Recently, scientists using the example of fox squirrels found out that small animals do this for a reason, and carefully sort their treasures by type, size and even taste preferences. And they do it according to the same principle by which people create folders on the desktop of a computer. In addition to convenience, such a system helps proteins better remember what lies where.

Strategic nut stock

Fox squirrels accumulate from 3,000 to 10,000 nuts per year. Of course, such wealth must be somehow stored. Yes, and do not forget, then to find them! And the squirrels figured out exactly how to do this, demonstrating flexible strategies that surprise scientists.

For two years, the research team kept track of how and where the stocks of 45 male and female fox squirrels are stored, as these charming rodents hid almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and other goodies in various wooded places on the University of California campus in Berkeley.

To understand by what principle proteins sort nuts, they were divided into two groups. One was given 16 nuts - 4 kinds of each in random order. The second group received nuts on a schedule: first four almonds, then four hazelnuts, and so on. Using hand-held GPS navigators, researchers monitored the proteins, as well as how the types of nuts were distributed and where they were stored.

Order against improvisation

Another principle of protein distribution in an experiment: feeding sites. In one case, this happened in one place, and in another - each time in different places. It was important for scientists to understand how the stability of food intake affects how the beks choose a strategy for maintaining reserves.

As a result, scientists found that the proteins that fed in one place often organized their hiding places by type of nut — almonds, hazelnuts, and so on. And if squirrels had to look for food in different places, then they kept it more randomly, not really worrying about distributing nuts by type.

Further studies of how proteins find their stores have shown that more structured caches are more likely to be found. So "creative mess" doesn't always work!