What Really Goes Into Storing Food for the Winter?

When birds and squirrels cache food for the winter, it means they have to remember where to find that food later. Their strategies for finding their hidden feasts includes memory tricks and changing brains.

Hosted by: Michael Aranda

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[ithoughtyouknew]

Squirrels are urban gardeners!! I always cut back on feeding the squirrels at fall. So they can hide the walnuts from my backyard tree. It's good that they can have a back up storage. And during winter, I do end up putting out shell peanuts for the squirrels to find when digging in the snow while they search. The loose seed and nuts I throw out are for the birds and chipmunks. A mix for everyone though. Usually toss before the sun comes up. That way they eat early to help raise their body temp during the cold winter months. There is so much wildlife in our neighborhood. And competition for food gets crazy. Besides that I really enjoy watching them while having coffee. It's the little things...
Be blessed everyone

[cathyb]

And also the fact that squirrels forgot some of their stashes help the renewal of wood and forest.

[jehmarxx]

Michael at the end: "I hope you remember something today."
Me: "I hope."

[mariejanes]

I love any of these shows that Michael narrates. Michael, your voice is sublime and perfect for this, backed with your humor and understanding.

[DoctorX]

I love that MinuteEarth is successful enough to have a book and advertise it here. I hope this spurs a crossover episode!

[bonsaitree]

Scientist: *gives birds literal brain damage
Birds: *has trouble remembering
Scientist: "Hmm...interesting" *quickly scribbles down notes.

[Grymgar]

Chickadee's hippocampi be like: "It's the cold season, we need to upgrade to more RAM!"

[matthewstarnes]

Thanks for another great video Michael! Love seeing you host ♥️

[Christopher-N]

This doesn't even take into account false caches. If a scrub jay suspects that another animal will raid its cache, it'll act like it's burying the nut, but then take it with them to hide somewhere else.

[tichu]

I wonder if it's really memory, or if it's just a preference for certain cache locations. Me retrieving my keys from the shelf each morning doesn't mean I have a good memory - just that I always put my keys on the shelf. Animals could have the same kind of personal preference for hiding spots.

[AryadiSubagio]

I like how he experiments with his hairstyle, lol

[skeletopedia]

Helpful tips to store food for the winter!!!

[LeesaDeAndrea]

One spring I found a tiny birds nest that was filled with safflower seed from my bird feeder. There are lots of chickadees here so I wonder if they are the ones who stashed the seed. But I have also found stashes of seed inside my charcoal grill & inside an upside down clay flower pot. One year I found a stash of corn seeds in my car. I suppose chickadees could have squeezed inside the grill or through the drainage hole in the pot. But no way they could have gotten to my car parked in the garage.

[Deeplycloseted]

I have squirrels and chipmunks everywhere. They work so hard. I always wonder how they’re making it, when its -10 degrees.

[mizzdeester]

Chickadee is an actual creature 😮🤣 I thought it was just something my mum called me when I was a kid

[moyetlicious]

Michael with long hair is so dreamy, never cut that beautiful hair!

[IsmailAbdulMusic]

Goes to show, all animals have a place and method of function. Interesting for sure!

[nutterbutter]

It’s been interesting seeing Michael’s hair-journey since the beginning of 2020

[Rubrickety]

Less well known is that hippos store food for the winter, during which time their chickadeecampuses get larger.

[twocvbloke]

Nah, those illustrations are what I expect from XKCD, I love their cartoons... :D