Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to brain junk. I'm Amy Barton.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: And I'm Trace Kerr. And today is everything you never knew you wanted to know about. Olfactory camouflage. Dun dun dun.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Oh, I do like this idea. Yeah.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: So just like a nerd trying to blend into a party, putting on the right clothes and dousing themselves in body spray to avoid getting dunked head first into a trash can, lots of rodents, like chipmunks and mice, will apply the scent of predators to their fur to hide in plain sight.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: That's clever. Does it really work? We're going to get to that.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: We are?
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: So the ground squirrel is who we're talking about today, and they take it to the next level with rattlesnakes.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Oh, okay. I'm like among your same specie. I don't feel like that's going to go very far. Yeah, no, we can spot a nerd in a leather jacket at 30 paces. Yeah, yeah.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: But this is like you're walking up to the bully and, well, let me tell you what they do. So, proceedings of these Royal Society bee. Remember we got that royal society bee going on. Yes, January 2008. And this is funny because, okay, that paper came out in 2008, but Chaz sent this to me on instagram. Like lately, it's weird how facty things kind of have a. It's almost like they're in a washing machine and they just keep coming up, they keep surfacing, you know?
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Yes. Like if you watch a stick in the river that gets stuck in an eddy, facts seem like that too. It goes away and then suddenly it pops back up.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yep. Well, okay, so the paper is called donning your enemy's cloak. Ground squirrels exploit rattlesnake scent to reduce predation risk.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: That's dramatic. And lots of five dollar words. Yeah.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: And this is from researchers from UC Davis and Houston State University. UC Davis has done so much stuff with ground squirrels. It's so funny how different universities, like, you know, there's one that specializes in fruit bats. These guys are all about ground squirrels.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: Yes. We, Gonzaga has a researcher that's done multiple years of mosquitoes, which aren't as cute, so we don't get as excited, but good things.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Right?
Well, and these aren't the climbing trees variety of squirrel. So a ground squirrel, think rusty brown, dusty reds, potato sized and shaped, don't.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Climb trees or can't climb trees like they just prefer.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: Yeah, they are ground. They are groundy boys. That's where they live. They're down on the ground. Some can be a little over a foot long, kind of like oh, my gosh.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: If I saw a twelve inch squirrel. That's a lot of squirrel.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Well, and it's not like long, fluffy squirrel tail. They are just hamster kind of design, except a squirrel.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: And low to the ground, prairie living. They dig burrows to mate and sleep in, and they forage in prime rattlesnake habitat.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Of course they do.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: And it's a problem. Right. You know, so there's some weird things. Like the parallel evolution of snake and squirrel has made it so that some adults are partially immune to snake venom.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Oh, that's handy. But hard one, I'm sure. Yeah.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: And like, okay, so I'm not gonna die, but I'm probably still not gonna feel great. And so you would rather not have one crawl into your home after a long day and bite you.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: Agreed.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Cause you're probably gonna get eaten and that would be, that'd be a real drag, you know?
[00:03:35] Speaker A: Yes. It's still not good. Yeah.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: So it turns out the best way to avoid the snake is to smell like the snake.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: So sometimes creatures, ground squirrels and other rodents, they'll find a place where the snake was like curled up in the sun and they'll roll in the dirt. They gotta pick up that snake smell. But even better, the ground squirrel will find a shed snake skin, chew it up and smear it all over their little furry potato body.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Oh, gross. Wow.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: They called that in the paper. SSA, snake scent application.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: This is like in movies where they're like Jurassic park, where they're covering themselves in mud and.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: Yeah, except, so you'll see this cute little squirrel, cute little fluffy face, and they've got this, you know, the snake sheds the skin. So it's got a big handful of snakeskin. It almost looks like if you gathered a bed sheet up, you know, to your face, and then they're just chewing off pieces. And then you see them chew, chew, chew, chew. And then they're grooming, like their tail and along their back and along their tummy. They're just covering themselves with this chewed up snake skin.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Oh, wow. So snake vision. It's been a while. I know. We've talked about it. I'm sure snake vision must not be awesome.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Well, I mean, it's not there. They do, they do. Oh, now I've got the wrong word. I keep wanting to say ultraviolet.
Snakes sense like prey.
They're sensing heat, infrared. Okay. So they're using, they've got these pit organs in their face and they use them to detect and target warm blooded prey. So they're kind of sensing that heat. And.
Yeah, based on body temperature. So they can see, but they're, you know, that this means, like, at night when your ground squirrel is in the burrow, a snake would be able to see that. But here's the funny thing. So ground squirrels also have an ability to, like, flash their tail and make a really bright infrared light. And so snakes are, like, either overloaded or they're frightened. But let's circle back to the chewing of snake skin and then splattering it all over your body.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: Adult females and teenagers do this more often than adult males.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Do adult males get eaten more often?
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Well, no, adult males are less vulnerable because a female is more likely to be in a den with babies. You know, this kind of thing.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:06:13] Speaker B: Okay. But I did see a video where a mom was chewing up snakeskin and then rubbing it on her children.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: It was kind of like a family. They all. You're rolling up to the beach, everybody needs sunscreen. Mom's like, get over here. You need some.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: Yes.
Love it.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Snakeskin.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: And they think that the snake skin cologne probably works in two different ways. One, it masks the squirrel scent. Right. But it also makes a hungry snake think that there's already a snake in the burrow. And snakes are not about buffet dining.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Oh, that makes more sense. I'm like, there is never any way that a squirrel is gonna look like a snake, even if it's kind of chilly and it's not showing as bright.
I'm thinking of the predator movie.
The amount of mud that they have to spread on themselves is never enough to protect them from the predator. Right.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: They can still see, like, around your eyes or something, so. No.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: If the snake got close enough, they would probably. They would see, like, oh, that. That ground squirrel smells like snake, but they're not going to probably get that close. They head towards a burrow, do a little sniff, and go, ah, smells like there's already a snake in there. Never mind. And so here's the thing. I mean, when you make up 70% of a snake's diet, it's a good idea to use every tool in your toolbox to not be on the menu, so.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: For sure.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah, but here's the funny thing. So you've got an animal that's partially immune to venom, chews up snakeskin, rubs it on the body. They.
They can flash their. Their infrared tails. And so sometimes if they flash that tail and they intimidate a snake, like, the snake is like, oh, yeah, that seems weird. A squirrel will go on the defensive, they have been known to harass snakes. They kick dirt on them and bite them.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: So in a staged encounter between squirrels and snakes, like, they're like, let's do some science. Sometimes researchers had to go in and save the snake because the ground squirrel was kicking its butt.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Wow. That is unexpected.
Wow.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: But, you know, you could be asleep and somebody's gonna get a jump on you. So in the study, they grabbed squirrels, they rubbed them down to get their scent and clipped some butt hairs. And, like, put that, you know, each squirrel got its own plastic bag. And then they either treated the hares with water or ground up snake smell. And the scent of the snake deterred snakes. And so, I mean, it works. They found that even in controlled settings, you know, they knew that. They know that it works. But here's the funny thing. They said that self treated ground squirrels, California ground squirrels, when they've put the snake stuff all over themselves, they groom more and they rest less.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Really?
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Well, think about it. I've just dipped myself in the smell of a murderer.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
So they're a little high strung.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: I feel a little anxious, but I maybe won't get eaten today.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Yes. That's like the seagulls that they did the test where they had a clutch of six eggs together, and three of the eggs were exposed to the sounds of predation and three weren't. And those other three came out real anxious with physiological differences. This is like a similar thing in nature. You're probably gonna survive longer, but your quality of life is, frankly, not that great.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Well, and think about it. If you're covered with snake smell, you probably won't smell a snake.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, true.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: So it's this weird jumping at shadows, you know? Yeah.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Oh, wait, no, that's just me.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: No.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Oh, no, it's still just me.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: Yes. You accidentally assault your own family member.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: I know.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Ah.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Snake kicking dirt. Oh, sorry, Fred.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: Sorry. I was gonna need stitches. Just got too excited.
You gotta make some noise, man.
Yeah.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: So there are quite a few critters that apply foreign odors, at least as of 2008, the olfactory camouflage was working as a anti predator based defense. Like often, if animals are covering themselves with the smell, it's so that you don't notice that they're there. This is keeping it away, specifically.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Hiding as opposed to actually deterring. Yes, exactly. So clever little fellas. Right?
[00:10:40] Speaker B: They're super cute. You should. Did you look up the ground squirrel?
[00:10:43] Speaker A: You should totally take it. Yeah, look up ground squirrel.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: California ground squirrel.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Groundhog kind of. Or like a marmot, almost like. Yeah, like.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: Like a marmot. It definitely has marmot vibes. Anyone who's not from an area where there's Mar, they're like, okay, that doesn't help me. You just described a thing. I don't know. With something.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: I don't know. Yeah, exactly. It's a squirrel mitt.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: It's like if they had a marmot and a squirrel had a baby. The first picture is the ground squirrel shot from the front, reaching its little paw out.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: It looks like it's doing an army crawl, and it's reaching its arm out to be safe.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Their dimensions are definitely different than our regular old tree squirrels.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Oh, yes. Like I said, it's more like a potato.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, it is.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Mm hmm. Well, they're very cute.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: They are squirrels. And so that's. That's squirrels blending in. Before we go, I wanted to. So I. In researching the squirrels, I don't know how I came across this other thing, but it's called a male four. Have you ever heard of that before?
[00:11:47] Speaker A: No.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: M a l a p h o r s. They are. That's when you blend an idiom or a cliche. So this is absolutely nothing to do with squirrels, but some of these were so funny. Like, now we're cooking with elbow grease.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Oh, yes.
Mm hmm.
[00:12:05] Speaker B: I also particularly loved. I need to get my baskets in a row.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: And don't bite your bullets before they hatch.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: Now I need to be looking for male force. That makes me happy. Oh, boy. So, for those of you who aren't looking at Wikipedia, a male for is a malapropism and a metaphor. Mishmesh. Together.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: Ba ba ba. Yeah. So you can. You can take one man's trash to another man's treasure, but you can't make it drink.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: That makes me happy. I usually have two distinct metaphors, but they're in the same sentence together.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Yeah. You stick two, blap them together. When in Rome, make lemonade.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: That's terrible. And perfect.
It's like.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: It makes sense, but it doesn't make sense. It's easy as cake.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: You hit the rail right the nail right on the nose.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Oh, no.
All right, so there you go. Have fun with words.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: Okay, shall we outro this baby?
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Yeah, let's outro this baby. I tried to come up with another one, and I didn't.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: As you know, you can always find us on Facebook and Instagram as brainjunkpodcast and sometimes on YouTube with some back catalog. You could pop it open in your browser while you're working and listen to some brain junk. And trace and I will catch you next time when I my brain cannot think of a male for us. So I'm just gonna tell you trace and I will catch you next time. And we will be sharing more of everything you never knew you wanted to know. And I guarantee you will not be bored. Woohoo.
