DAMARISCOTTA, Maine (AP) 鈥� Humans aren't the only species packing on extra pounds during the pandemic. Some squirrels are letting themselves go, too.
Many squirrels are eating well this fall in New England. But one portly squirrel is so big it earned the nickname, 鈥淔atty McFatterson.鈥�
Most squirrels sprint or scoot. This one lumbers and waddles after supplementing nature's bounty this fall by helping himself to seeds that fall to the ground from bird feeders.
鈥淗e鈥檚 clearly the alpha of the yard,鈥� said Beth Ditkoff, of Damariscotta, told The Associated Press. 鈥淵ou think of them as scampering around. He鈥檚 bah-boom, bah-boom."
It turns out that many pint-sized rodents aren鈥檛 so pint-sized as they gorge on abundant beach nuts, hazelnuts, acorns and a bumper crop of mushrooms this fall, Shevenell Webb, furbearer biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Bangor Daily News.
鈥淢any species of wildlife can pack on some extra pounds, but their thick, fluffy fur coat may also make them appear larger in winter,鈥� she said.
Unlike many other mammals, squirrels don鈥檛 hibernate, though they do spend a fair amount of time in their nests in colder weather.
The Associated Press