Red squirrels like these are much softer than grey squirrels! Very noticeably so, closer to a tiny kitten or even a chinchilla. I was very surprised with the first red squirrels I handled and we all tried to be the ones to get to work with them instead of the more regular grey squirrels we get in our area.
Also, while it is commonly thought that rodents like squirrels have orange teeth because they have iron deposited in the enamel, that has been proven to not be the case. While they do have deposits of iron-containing ferrihydrite-like material for strength, a recent study shows the orange coloration comes from certain amino acids and other minerals, not the ferrites.
Don't tell anyone....but I was too! I just googled to verify it was all rodents, not just some, and saw that it's a pretty new (2024) discovery. I accidentally saved us both some mild embarassment, and we got a TIL. Win-win!
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Some more interesting squirrel info:
Red squirrels like these are much softer than grey squirrels! Very noticeably so, closer to a tiny kitten or even a chinchilla. I was very surprised with the first red squirrels I handled and we all tried to be the ones to get to work with them instead of the more regular grey squirrels we get in our area.
Also, while it is commonly thought that rodents like squirrels have orange teeth because they have iron deposited in the enamel, that has been proven to not be the case. While they do have deposits of iron-containing ferrihydrite-like material for strength, a recent study shows the orange coloration comes from certain amino acids and other minerals, not the ferrites.
I was about to come tell that their teeth are orange because of the iron in them!
Don't tell anyone....but I was too! I just googled to verify it was all rodents, not just some, and saw that it's a pretty new (2024) discovery. I accidentally saved us both some mild embarassment, and we got a TIL. Win-win!
Now this is the kind of insider knowledge I come to Lemmy for.
I'm always down for sharing animal facts and stories!