We, humans, mourn our dead, mourning is necessary as it helps us accept the death of a loved one and move on with our lives. Certain animals mourn their dead too, these animals show grief like behaviour after one of them has died, conversely, some animals eat their dead friends or family members. Animals such as tiger sharks, tiger salamanders, polar bears, chickens, spiders, hamsters, and wasps eat their dead. But what about squirrels? Do squirrels eat their dead? This article explores this question.

Squirrels sometimes do eat their dead, albeit occasionally. Male squirrels will kill and sometimes eat a litter of squirrels fathered by another in order to have the opportunity to mate with the mother. If a squirrel becomes roadkill, or is shot by a human, other squirrels feed on its carcass if there is nothing better to eat 

Do squirrels eat their dead?

Squirrels exhibiting cannibalistic behaviours is uncommon. The typical squirrel diet consists of seeds, fungus, nuts, fruits and vegetables. These animals are omnivores meaning they can eat both plant matter and meat. Meats that squirrels can eat include small insects, snakes, caterpillars and small animals. These animals rarely eat their dead but this can happen 

One instance where a squirrel may eat a dead squirrel is when a male squirrel eats the carcass of a squirrel pup that it has recently killed. Female squirrels can create litters with different males, this usually happens when food is ample. If a male has fathered a litter, and wants to mate with the female again to create a new litter, he will kill off a litter fathered by another male she has mated with. This will give him the opportunity to mate with her again to create another litter. Once the male squirrel has killed the pups off, he will eat the dead pups. He may not always eat the dead pups but this does happen on occasion 

Another occasion where squirrels will eat their dead is when a squirrel dies as a result of human activity. When this happens, squirrels in the area come along and eat the carcass. This can happen if humans try to do squirrel pest control. If you shoot and kill a squirrel, the squirrels in the area may turn on it and eat its carcass. They will try to rip off whatever body part they can and take the pieces back to their burrows.

Something similar can also happen with squirrel roadkill. If a squirrel gets run over by a vehicle, other squirrels living in the area may be drawn to it and eat it. This will inevitably result in more squirrels becoming roadkill if the squirrels stop to eat on the busy road rather than taking parts of the carcass away to eat later.

Do squirrels mourn their dead?

Sometimes, we don’t give animals the credit they deserve, some are indeed more emotionally complex than we expect. We cannot truly know whether squirrels mourn their dead. In some cases (like when they eat their dead) it seems that they do not mourn their dead, but in other cases (where we see squirrels defending a dying squirrel from crows looking to feed) we can assume that squirrels can be heartbroken and even mourn their dead. 

Where do squirrels go when they die?

Squirrels either die of natural or unnatural causes. Unnatural causes include deaths by humans or predators. If the squirrel is killed by a predator, the predator will take the squirrel away and eat it.

Squirrels can sense when they are close to dying of natural causes. When squirrels sense that the end is near, they look for somewhere to die in peace, this involves confining themselves in nests to avoid being attacked by predators in their last days.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, yes, squirrels do sometimes eat their dead, this happens occasionally. If a male squirrel kills off a litter of pups belonging to another male he may sometimes eat the pups carcass. If a squirrel becomes roadkill, or gets shot by a human, it sometimes gets eaten by other squirrels in the area. When it comes to the question of ‘do squirrels mourn their dead’ we cannot be sure. When squirrels sense that they are close to dying, they find secluded areas to die to avoid being attacked by predators.

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