California ground squirrels hunt, kill and eat voles, reveals a study by UC Davis and UW-Eau Claire, sharing the first evidence of widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.
Rodents don’t need to be pushed to starvation, but nuts and plants and small insects are safer to forage for compared to hunting something large enough to fight back. So if they can easily get what they need from available plant sources, they will choose that first.
This is true for a lot of forager type animals. Chickens will kill and eat mice if they can. I’ve even seen videos of horses snacking on baby chickens.
Yes, they are omnivores.
Rodents don’t need to be pushed to starvation, but nuts and plants and small insects are safer to forage for compared to hunting something large enough to fight back. So if they can easily get what they need from available plant sources, they will choose that first.
This is true for a lot of forager type animals. Chickens will kill and eat mice if they can. I’ve even seen videos of horses snacking on baby chickens.
Chickens really love bugs, maggots etc on the regular.