Eastern gray squirrels can live up to 12 years in the wild, so why not befriend your favorite little nut stasher? Yes, it may be intimidating at first. With their luxurious tails and constant incoherent chatter, hanging out with squirrels can seem like hanging out with a bunch of drunk debutantes. Lucky for us, in 1959 a guy named Arnold Bakken decoded their language1 so we can finally have a meaningful conversation with them (or at least get the treetop gossip).

copley_squirrel_dictionary

Check our facts!

1 Bakken, A (1959) Behaviour of gray squirrels. Proceedings of the South Eastern Association of Game and Fish Commissioners 13, 393-406.

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Heather Copley is a Clinical Social Worker whose hobbies happen to include: science, storing up food for the winter like our squirrel friends, and writing hilarious llama jokes.