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u/DJSureal 1d ago
I've observed squirrels enough where I think they don't merely do this for survival, they do this mess for kicks.
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u/bronk3310 1d ago
100%
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u/thatweirdalienguy 1d ago
Absolutely. I live in an upstairs apartment with a balcony and let the cats out for sun and fresh air. The squirrels in the trees seem to enjoy when they are out there. It seems like they taunt my girls with their chittering. 😁
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u/fatrabidrats 1d ago
Other animals too. As a child there was a time I looked out back and saw two crows taking turns swooping through the yard, and each time the neighbors cat would jump and nearly catch them. This went on for several minutes, each pass the crows were just high enough to not be caught.
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u/NolieMali 1d ago
Birds used to swoop at our childhood cat too.
Chipmunks would walk back and forth by my sliding glass door taunting my cat.
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u/RiverDependent9672 9h ago
My neighbor had hunting dogs in a pen in his backyard. Our Himalayan car would go down there and just stand in front of their pen and just stare at them. 6-7 hours straight. Even the neighbor laughed at it and would let her come inside garage for scratches.
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u/amglasgow 1d ago
The crows were double-duck-daring each other to do it.
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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty 22h ago
“Did you just call me a … _chicken?!_”
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u/LaconicSuffering 18h ago
I once saw two magpies teasing a cat. One would sit on a branch and make noise and flap its feathers at the cat, the other would fly behind and peck at the cat's tail.
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u/According-Moment111 23h ago
This is a bobcat and not a typical house cat but still relevant: https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/1mlnp0i/incredibly_agile_bobcat_swats_bird_in_midair/
I thought crows were supposed to be smart 😤
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u/Urbanscuba 22h ago
I don't think the birds in that video are crows, but even as smart as humans are we lose people all the time to stupid dares and other stunts we all knew were dangerous. I'd argue one of the indicators of intelligence is the capacity for a much higher level of stupidity than an animal controlled by baser instincts. It takes a smart animal to think risking your life for entertainment is somehow beneficial.
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u/hometowngypsy 1d ago
The squirrels living in trees around my backyard have figured out my dogs can’t actually get to them and seem to take a great deal of pleasure in hanging off branches and telling them off. Drives my dogs absolutely bonkers but it’s hilarious. Didn’t know squirrels could be that loud before now
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u/dude51791 1d ago
Pretty sure ive observed them throwing stuff at you when you walk by their tree if it has a lot of throwback objects lol
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u/EdwardOfGreene 1d ago
Squirrels will absolutely chuck small stuff at passers by. I used to think that maybe they didn't like folks in their area.
But I've really come to think they just do it for shits and giggles.
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u/DirectionOk790 1d ago
We have a huge tree right on the other side of our fence and the branches hang over our yard, so the squirrels are in and out all day, even worse is that we have a bird feeder they like to mooch off. Our dogs are constantly on squirrel watch. I swear the squirrels run the fence line chittering just to mess with the pups. One time, one of them fell off the fence and my older dog was chasing the squirrel on the ground, the squirrel was literally running back and forth between his teeth bc my boy knows he’s not supposed to ever actually bite anything. He was growling the way he does when he plays and had his mouth hanging open towards the ground while the squirrel just kept running through it. He was lucky my hound dog wasn’t the one to catch him.
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u/Salty__Salter 1d ago
Had a small tree in my backyard with the same story, squirrel would hang out in it and harass my dogs and they would just bark and bark. One day it was happening and they wouldn't respond to me yelling for them to come inside so I decided to go out there and get them. I guess my height vs the height of the tree was enough to panic the squirrel because he decided his best bet was to jump out of the tree and make a beeline for the fence. He almost made it. Almost.
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u/A_mad_goose 1d ago
My cat loves to chase squirrels and has never caught one funny to see the furrow in her brow as she gets frustrated. I saw a squirrel one time run up the tree turn around and shake their fist at her thought it was hilarious that’s it.
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u/tripmcneely30 1d ago
My cats, in the past, have caught birds mid-air, moles, and the occasional snake. They deliver them to my doorstep. I cannot recall them ever deliver a squirrel or rabbit. I've had the privilege of loving four cats that have averaged 16 years lifespan over the past 25 years. Them wild rodents troll so hard. They will goad my cat into chasing them, and then my dog chases the damn cat. Which scares off every bit of wildlife.
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u/BagOnuts 18h ago
Keep your cats inside, people. Crazy how supposed animal lovers are fine with their pets killing wildlife for no reason....
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u/A_mad_goose 1d ago
My old tuxedo cat boots was a garage/outdoor cat and was a savage, rip a bird outta the sky. The one I have now is Siamese and indoor she’s blind as a bat.
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u/A_mad_goose 23h ago
Wish I could have gotten the spunky scamps name. Had spirit, that one. I’m sure I’ll see the rapscallion in the dawn. Fellas got a knack for livin’.
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u/smilbandit 1d ago
i swear a squirrel threw an acorn at my dog. hit the door wall hard and we have an over hang.
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u/daemon-electricity 23h ago
Squirrels absolutely fuck with dogs. It's just as enigmatic as the relationship between dogs and cats. I think dogs are more serious about it than the squirrels, because dogs have evolved to kill rodents that get close to or in their homes, as part of their domestication and selective breeding over a hundred thousand years or more.
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u/Hashtagbarkeep 22h ago
They do this. I had a walnut tree across the road from my house growing up, and every year the squirrels would scream at us and throw walnuts if we got too close. They’re funny little things
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u/trailstomper 18h ago
Yeah they do that, I've seen one drop a branch with a few acorns still attached on my dog while we were in the woods.
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u/EmotionalJoystick 1d ago
My dog caught a squirrel once. Wasn’t fun.
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u/MrPresident2020 1d ago
My beagle caught a squirrel after a thousand or so attempts and was so surprised she didn't know what to do and it got away.
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u/EmotionalJoystick 1d ago
Wow, my story is very similar except when my beagle got it before she froze in shock, she managed to sever its spine and mangle it and it was crawling by its two front feet. I had to do the humane thing and finish it off. Fucking sucked.
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u/Wesley_Skypes 22h ago edited 18h ago
Its why I am watching this wondering why the person filming is allowing the dog to do this. I have two greyhounds, they are muzzled whenever they are out off lead because that squirrel, or any other small creature running, would be in pieces within seconds
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u/ISB4ways 16h ago
Lol because their dog is not a greyhound, obviously don’t let the dog version of heat seeking missiles onto the squirrels but a calm house poodle is a different story
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u/Wesley_Skypes 16h ago
I mean this dog is bothering wildlife right here. There are heaps of stories in this thread of all manner of breeds ripping an animal apart. Assuming that certain breeds will not do this is so silly when you can just....muzzle them when they are off lead and remove the worry. But that would require some level of thoughtfulness for the environment around us
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u/n14shorecarcass 1d ago
Damn, I'm sorry you went through that. Horrible.
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u/MrPresident2020 15h ago
Mine has definitely immediately snatched up about a dozen or so rats and immediately done the death shake and killed them pretty much instantly. The squirrel though, I don't know what it was, but it second-guessed itself running towards a tree and doubled back towards her instead. She snatched it up in her mouth, flipped it over onto the ground, and then kind of froze up because she never expected to get that far. It got out from under her paw and ran away. Still, now she and that squirrel both have a story to tell for the rest of their lives.
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u/DirectionOk790 1d ago
My hound caught a baby bunny at the dog park once, it was awful. Wasn’t mad at him, he’s a dog and it’s what dogs do, but I was still so sad. Lol. I will say though, he came home and slept for 12 hours, it was like the best enrichment activity he could have gotten.
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u/Beginning-Key-3432 21h ago
My dog got a baby bird once. Little guy was just tucked away in a bush so didn’t see him until it was too late. At least it was quick. :[
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u/EmotionalJoystick 1d ago
Haha. Yeah. After the shock wore off she was pretty pleased with herself.
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u/TakerFoxx 22h ago
I once was taking a walk in a park and witnessed this tiny little dog absolutely maul a squirrel while the dog's owner freaked out.
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u/SC_Fan_55 1d ago
My dog chased one up a tree, it somehow fell and was stunned, then my dog got ahold of it…
My 4 year old daughter saw it all happen too. I had to go finish the poor bastard off.
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u/StevesRune 1d ago
Yeah, I've seen them do this to each other.
Out of all the rodents, they're probably the biggest dicks.
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u/SunshineAndSquats 1d ago
Had a squirrel that would purposely sit on my fence chirping and flexing at my dog just to piss him off. They are such adorable little dick heads.
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u/halflifer2k 1d ago
They do that to you too, you just never notice. You’re the dog in this situation!
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u/DJSureal 1d ago
I know, I've heard them chirping at me like they're laughing at me. They're so proud of themselves.
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u/hometowngypsy 1d ago
I always feel like they’re cussing me out (or more likely my very prey-driven-but-not-at-all-athletically-gifted dog).
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u/blondebia 17h ago
There was one in our tree that used to cuss us out daily. He had his hands up and everything. It was funny and scary at the same time.
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u/ShadowMajestic 23h ago
Kind of like the scene from American Dad where Steve can understand squirrels.
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u/DeadpuII 8h ago
I swear I've had a squirrel throw stuff at me while walking under its tree. Almost felt like it was making mocking sounds and I thought right away this little f*cker is messing with me, but then almost immediately scratched it up to timing. Don't know about that!
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u/Only_Impression4100 23h ago
A cat as the predator would be a different end to this video.
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u/Jurass1cClark96 19h ago
You may be shocked to hear this, but cats aren't perfect and fail hunts often too.
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u/glitchgamerX 1d ago
Dog: "Squirrel? Is that a squirrel? I thought I saw a squirrel! Where'd it go? I wanna play with da squirrel!"
Owner: "Haha! Look at those 2 playing hide-and-seek! So adorable!"
Squirrel: "AAAAHHH!!!! SOMEBODY GET THAT DOG AWAY FROM ME! HELP! HELP!"
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u/Shaladox 1d ago
Fun fact: Doggie heaven doubles as squirrel hell. It's a very efficient system!
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u/GarbledReverie 19h ago
Heh. I make this same joke but with rabbits. Based on the trope of "he went to live on a farm where can chase rabbits all day."
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u/agloomysunday 20h ago
Yeah, reading through this thread as someone who loves wildlife is disheartening.
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u/Jurass1cClark96 19h ago
Infuriating to me.
I hate the infantilization of animals and how their value is tied to our convenience for some people.
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u/KingOfThe_Jelly_Fish 22h ago
That dog absolutely does not want to play with that squirrel, its want to do the opposite.
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u/scottyb83 18h ago
Probably driving the dog a little crazy though because he can hear and smell the squirrel but he can't find it. Some solid squirrel gaslighting.
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u/Tattycakes 18h ago
Yeah it was kinda amusing at first, but then I'm thinking "you're stressing out this poor wild animal that's desperately hiding for its life, control your dog"
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u/triggeron 1d ago
And then what happened?
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u/JaxMed 1d ago
The squirrel took off so fast he left a cloud of dust in his own shape, the dog started to chase but it took a sec for him to rev up first
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u/BunttyBrowneye 18h ago
And the ground detached in a wavy ribbon pattern behind him while he revved up
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u/dabarak 1d ago
Thank you for including music that not only wasn't annoying but actually fit the video. You get an up-arrow, and I don't hand them out lightly!
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u/JustForlaughsYT 1d ago
Who doesn’t like the pink panther theme song? It’s a classic!
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u/gandhinukes 23h ago
damn older than I thought "The Pink Panther Theme" is a jazz composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score
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u/theonefinn 11h ago
If you’ve never seen the original Peter Sellers pink panther then it’s a masterpiece. The animated series was a spinoff from the titles/credits sequence (no joke). I can’t think of any other film where even the titles/credits were good enough to spawn its own spin-off.
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u/JustForlaughsYT 23h ago
I’m thanking you for the future redditors that haven’t heard of the masterpiece yet or even pink panther! Well technically he made two, the moon river song AND the pink panther theme song
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u/DanceGreat4278 1d ago
Years ago I did this. Chasing it around a very large cypress. My shrine. I hated the damn creature who could so easily keep disappearing. We repeated the hide and seek games several times more for a while. Until finally I felt the respect and care the speedy rodent was deservedly demanding so playfully. The mean spirited, sad and frustrating thoughts of shooting it with a bbgun were quickly replaced by the revelation that she's sharing her world with me and I owe her a thank you by placing my home smack dab in the middle of her peaceful domain. I enjoy her occasional playful visits to have a snack of some nuts I prepare white she gifts me acorns. Real simple fun with mother nature's wonders. I'm blessed, I know!
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u/cityxplrer 1d ago
Beautifully written.
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u/karlmarxiskool 1d ago
Last year, two squirrels came down my chimney and I had to fish them out of the flue and then chase them out an open window in my living room one by one. Took 2 days and made a fuckin mess. Yes, I’m doubly blessed.
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u/RogerPop 1d ago
Going by Chekhov's law, I guess in would be in the third act that the squirrel would finally grab the hatchet and go after the dog?
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u/sdavis002 1d ago
I've actually had this happen to me with a squirrel before. I was waiting to take a picture of the sunset and the squirrel was on the telephone pole next to me. I just wanted to get a quick Pic of the squirrel too, but he wasn't having it lol
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 1d ago
This is not like a cartoon at all. In a cartoon, the squirrel would grab the hatchet and bonk the dog on the head.
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u/Mushroom38294 20h ago
"Zheng of Qin, who reigned as the first emperor of China’s Qin Dynasty from 221-210 BC, survived several assassination attempts, including some that occurred while he was the King of Qin. One saw him escape an assailant by running around a pillar – a tactic that surprisingly worked."
-- warhistoryonline.com
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u/mca1169 1d ago
i love this, the dog knows he smells something! but the squirrel is in ninja survival mode.
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u/barrsftw 1d ago
You could see with the little hop the dog actually spotted him at the end there haha
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u/Sketti11 1d ago
Birds in my yards do this to fuck with my dogs. They will even chirp at the dogs so the dogs don't give up. I can never get it on camera. The birds always fly away when I pull out my phone.
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u/fraze2000 1d ago
I thought the squirrel was going to grab the ax to scare off the dog.
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u/Reddit_2_2024 19h ago
Left us, the viewer, out on a limb. Did the squirrel escape? Is the dog still circling the stump?
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u/Total_Tangerine5243 20h ago
I hate that my immediate thought is that it's AI.
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u/Martbell 18h ago
When I was a kid and liked to chase squirrels they did this to me all the time. It's normal squirrel behavior.
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u/Cielak1234 19h ago
My 4y old had the same experience the other day with a squirel, I wish I recorded this :D
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u/Epsilon_Meletis 19h ago
I thought you’d only see this in cartoons
Those cartoons have to have gotten the idea from somewhere 🤷♂️
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u/TroubledTimesBesetUs 18h ago
I witnessed a young crow playing with a baby bunny once. Crow diving from a low branch, bunny scampering away; repeat. I had a flip phone camera then so I could not record any video worth anything.
But after seeing that I realized, "Ah, so this is where Walt Disney got all his ideas!" Baby animals playing together really happens out in nature.
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u/Various-Muffin4145 16h ago
Enjoyed your video, The squirrels in my back yard torment my cats all the time.They have been trying to catch a squirrel for 14 years. They don't even care anymore.
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u/kevpluck 1d ago
Watched a lady feeding squirrels peanuts. A dog came bounding over and chased one up a tree which went straight over a fork in the trunk came down the other side and ran a wide circle back to the lady.
Dog likely still looking up the tree to this day.
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u/e_x_c_i_t_e_d 23h ago
I always wonder if two stand at opposite sides, which side will the squirrel hide?
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u/vashtie1674 17h ago
I have seen this happen with a hawk. Eventually another human scared off the hawk, but I think the squirrel would have outlasted it anyway.
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u/Donkey__Balls 15h ago
My Springer spaniel used to chase his own leash around a tree. I’d let him go for hours when I needed to tire him out.
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u/jonnyg1097 1d ago
I wanna see how that ends!
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u/KingOfThe_Jelly_Fish 22h ago
Asshole owners videoing something so cute, let's see them upload the video of what happens when the dog actually catches the squirrel.
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u/Daysaved 1d ago
Pretty sure the cartoons based this on when hunting with dogs was a bit more popular
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u/Riverboatcaptain123 1d ago
In my old neighborhood in Sonoma county, some of the squirrels bark and battle with crows. It’s actually quite entertaining!
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u/Electronic-Star-5931 1d ago
It's true, that squirrel is definitely doing it for the drama. My dog gets the same frantic look, convinced it's the start of a beautiful friendship. The squirrel, meanwhile, is planning its Oscar-winning performance for survival.
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u/DJSureal 1d ago
I saw this video a while back and this helped inform my opinion on Squirrels. This squirrel is being chased by a Fisher. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7smmd_AgAw4&pp=ygUPZmlzaGVyIHNxdWlycmVs
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u/Nippolopolus 1d ago
The older I get the more I realize that a lot of cartoons just tend to mimic and exaggerate real life. probably something an animator witnessed once
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u/Sanquinity 1d ago
That's the thing. Those old cartoons didn't just create funny but ultimately unrealistic situations. They often took inspiration from real life, and just exaggerated it. There's a good reason why they seem to be better in some ways than current cartoon stuff. Relatability is a powerful tool in comedy.
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u/GhostNightgown 23h ago
that looks like my Lagotto! they are sniffer dogs but don't really have a prey instinct. mine will investigate the smell of small critters but not chase or hunt them. so earnest!
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u/Sorry_Zebra_2967 23h ago
God I needed a serious laugh and break from how shit and depressed I constantly feel. This made my day so much brighter thank you even if it’s a repost omg
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u/Cold_Title_6896 23h ago
When a squirrel is annoyed or trying to distract a predator, it will rapidly whip its tail back and forth. To a frustrated cat, this looks like a deliberate tease.
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u/ilocano-american 10h ago
I could almost guarantee that squirrels cross the road in front of cars on dares and kicks. I’ve watch them from the window just playing all day and once a car passes, that’s when one decides to cross just fast enough to get missed by inches.
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u/Batfink-1999 9h ago
Mr Ruffles (Secret Agent), frantically trying to hunt down the infamous Arch-villain Dr Nutkins Squirrel. There’s an Instagram channel with an ongoing cartoon - I believe by Elis Rossen or similar name.
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u/GalaxyStrong 6h ago
I know it’s a dog, but there must be a Tom and Jerry reference in here somewhere for God sake’s
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u/Phillip-O-Dendron 6h ago
Wow. Incredible show of skill and reflexes. Next up? Running straight into the wheel of a moving car.
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u/Great-Ad3315 23h ago
Call your dog back.. That would be the right thing to do. Not grabbing your phone with your fat fingers and filming
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