Squeak, The Squirrel

[Music] stump is it a chipmunk it looks like a chipmunk all right but it's squirrel a golden mantled ground squirrel we call him that because of the golden fur around his neck and head his name is squeak squeak the squirrel when a squirrel whistles a Others Stop and listen what do you think the whistles mean all day long squeak looks for seeds and nuts he eats some food where he finds it and some he carries away to his nest in the ground a squirrel doesn't like others around when he's eating he growls and chases them away let's see what what squeak does when he meets a squirrel that he's never seen before we'll fool him with a mirror well he thinks that squirrel in the mirror will run away but he just sits in nibbles too say what kind of a squirrel is this anyway looks like a squirrel but he doesn't smell right does he squeak and he certainly doesn't feel right well a squirrel like that's a waste of time and squeak has work to do you hold very still a squirrel will come up and eat out of your hand watch how he shoves the nuts into pouches in his cheeks look at his long whiskers do you think they would tickle your hand being good to a squirrel makes him more friendly now squeak isn't afraid at all he goes right after that food if you tie the nut to a string he grabs it the more you pull the harder he pulls see how he bites off the shell to get at the nut he knows how to get what he wants a squirrel is a smart little animal don't you think so and when peanuts are hidden in a box squeak will poke his head in to get them he shoves as many nuts as possible into his pouches see how his cheeks bulge and still he keeps getting more his cheeks are so fat he can't get his head into the smaller box have you ever seen anyone work so hard to get what he wants now let's try something new we found out that a squirrel will work for food that he can use his paws to reach and Pull and that he can learn simp things like finding peanuts in a box but can he learn something he hasn't tried before let's see how smart a squirrel really is here's a glass tube we'll put some peanuts in one end of the tube squeak has been watching us do you think he can get the nuts he goes right to the tube and uses his tongue to reach them he sees that the best way to get the nuts is from the open end of the tube but now his tongue isn't long enough to reach those that are left so he sniffs and licks and scratches he tries to push his face into the tube but still he can't get the peanuts that he can see shall we help him all right let's tie a string to the nut do you think squeak can learn to pull the string there he sees where the nut is but he can't get it perhaps at the other end of the tube no that didn't work he moves his nose back and forth under the nut he even touches the string but leaves without pulling it let's push the nut in a little farther and try again he's beginning to get curious about that string see him sniff at it watch now he pulled the string was it luck well we'll let him take the nut to his nest and then try it again again this time he faces the tube and pulls the string with his teeth and Paws here's something that will show you just how well squeak can learn a lesson we'll push the peanut far into the tube with a stick watch how squeak acts after he's practiced many many times he goes right to the string and pulls hand over hand he certainly learned that lesson well didn't he here's another test we'll put a peanut on one end of the string and a stick on the other we'll hang the two ends through a wire screen this time squeak has to do more than pull the string he has to pull the Right End will he find the end with the nut there must be something to eat around here someplace let's put another peanut on the string wrong again he tries so hard that he makes the same mistake over and over and then he turns to the right end of the string again let's change the peanut and the stick around will that mix him up no he's learned to pull the Right End almost without looking how do you think he does it the more lessons he learns the more he gets to eat isn't squeak getting to be a fat little squirrel now for another new problem we'll tie the peanut on the string and hang it so it's Out Of Reach this time the string is Out Of Reach too what do you think he'll do now at first when he sees the peanut he reaches for it he sniffs around and stretches for the nut again he even holds on to the rod with one paw while he reaches now squeak sees the string but he catches his tail on it and is frightened away we'll try again now watch him use one paw and his nose to pull the string he learned how problem in just two tries here's a different test we'll hang the peanut out of the squirrel's reach a string is tied to a box that can be pulled can you figure out what squeak should do to get the nut there he got another nut to put away in his nest let's try this again see how he runs back and forth and looks over the problem he's learned that he can use a string to help him get something he wants he didn't know how to use a string when he was living out in the woods did he does it surprise you to find out how much an animal can learn uhoh that time he pulled the Box so that it isn't quite under the [Music] nut there he did it there will never be a shortage of nuts for a hardworking smart little squirrel like squeak [Music]