“Some squirrel nibbled the continent of South America on one of my pumpkins. It’s freaking me out.” A collection of accidental geographies. The phenomenon is known as "cartocacoethes," and may explain why some old maps are not maps at all. via StrangeMaps [more inside]
posted by cubby on Nov 24, 2009 - 29 comments

Exploding Squirrels (but in a humane way), using the Rodenator Pro. In a related story, Rush Limbaugh learns a new word. Video.
posted by LeLiLo on Apr 15, 2009 - 38 comments

Iran says it caught two pigeons spying on it's nuclear reactor. It sounds crazy, but it's not as farfetched as you might think. The lowly pigeon has been used in military operations since the 12th century. Commando the Pigeon flew 90 missions in German-occupied France during WWII. Pigeons like Commando, Winkie, and Paddy had a lock on the Dickin Medal for animal bravery during WWII. Then again, maybe it's just crazy. Last year Iran said it had arrested 14 squirrels for espionage.
posted by up in the old hotel on Oct 20, 2008 - 40 comments

There's the white squirrels of Exeter, and the black squirrels of London. Apparently they're both awesome if you like squirrels, or craft songs about them.
posted by joelf on Jan 21, 2008 - 29 comments

Photographing Squirrels with Cameras No really, taking pictures of real wild squirrels next to real vintage cameras. No computer editing, he swears. Some are completely odd and others entirely cute as hell. Hours of time well spent!
posted by Dome-O-Rama on Aug 25, 2006 - 23 comments

Why Mommy is a Democrat — a self-published children's book by Jeremy Zilber (sample pages here.) Warm fuzziness, left-wing nuttiness, or squirrely propaganda?
posted by cenoxo on Apr 4, 2006 - 45 comments

How To Have A Ton Of Fun Raising Baby Squirrels. Husband and wife document their adventures raising these little spazz-monsters with many photos and some Flash movies. Via Cute Overload.
posted by Gator on Jan 2, 2006 - 40 comments

NewsFilter: Squirrels attack
posted by spinoza on Dec 1, 2005 - 57 comments

Evolution, social harmony between those of different colors, and rodent roofies: "He used to smear a tree behind his Silver Spring home with a mixture of peanut butter and Valium and then tattoo the squirrels that he found passed out below."

All this and more in the story of the ongoing displacement of the grey squirrel by the black squirrel in the Washington, D.C. region.
posted by NortonDC on May 19, 2005 - 22 comments

Super cool squirrels! "We believe that a ground squirrel, when it goes into hibernation, produces chemical messengers that are released from the brain that direct the slowing down of the metabolism... If we were able to synthesize the same chemical compounds and make them available in an injection, it could be administered to induce a hibernation-like state in humans."

And they're cute, too.
posted by moonbird on Dec 11, 2003 - 5 comments

"My symbiotic relationship with squirrels is rather complex and multi-leveled, but I think I can sum it up in two main points: 1. I give them food; 2. They like food" says Jon, at his World o' Squirrels. Some people think squirrels are cute, others think there is more to them, while others still deem them ruthless killers.
posted by nthdegx on Sep 25, 2003 - 29 comments

One small step for technology, one giant leap towards a world with no secrets.
posted by Fupped Duck on Nov 9, 2002 - 9 comments

Squirrels Invade Stanford!!!!! Ahhh Nuts.
Quote: The campus squirrels have apparently taken to bizarre suicidal death leaps into the path of oncoming student bikers. "It's really hard to even ride your bike on campus," said Katie Founds. "They're always leaping in front of you."
"They got into one of the residences, and they started typing on the keyboard," Shen said. "They ran over the person's laptop keyboard. They actually somehow renamed the person's hard drive."
posted by lheiskell on Apr 26, 2002 - 38 comments

Not just the fratboys anymore... "It was once thought that humans were the only animals to engage in ritualized hazing. As it turns out, squirrels have been engaging in the practice since the birth of their species." That's right, squirrel hazing is more widespread than one would think....
posted by Espoo2 on Jul 5, 2001 - 7 comments

Even Harvard students get bored. [via TheMaxx]
posted by margaretlam on Jul 5, 2001 - 4 comments

All squirrels must die! (One of the more interesting single-issue web sites I've seen.)
posted by Steven Den Beste on Nov 2, 2000 - 0 comments