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Hey everyone, let's talk about squirrels.

Those creatures that are almost everywhere.

You know, it's a mammal that almost everybody has seen, you know, in their backyards or in their gardens,

no matter where you live, whether that's in really rural areas or even in highly urbanized areas.

Charlotte DeVitz is getting her PhD at the University of Minnesota and she studies small mammals,

chipmunks and squirrels.

Their behavior in it of itself is really fascinating to watch.

They're incredibly intelligent.

They're an exciting species to work with.

But I have to confess that I think squirrels are nothing but rodents of the trees.

And I'll tell you why, you know, a few years ago we had two squirrels that lived on the Elm

tree in our backyard and for fun my husband named them Pat and Weatsy.

There were cute names for two very cute furry animals, but they were also thieves.

I was trying my hand at gardening at the time and Pat and Weatsy were always stealing my

pepas and strawberries.

All the fruits of my labor went right into their bellies.

Yeah, they certainly do enjoy stealing from people's gardens, from their bird feeders.

They're incredibly smart.

They can figure out how to get into pretty much everything.

So we have lots of people who ask us while we're out in the field, you know,

how can I get all these squirrels out of my yard?

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