University of Guelph research on the nesting habits of squirrels has been featured on CBC North and on Yahoo News.

U of G integrative biology researchers recently published a study on North American red squirrels that found that young squirrels that take over nests of male squirrels and “inherit” their leftover stored food fare better than those that take over the nests previously owned by females.

David Fisher, a former U of G postdoctoral researcher and the study’s lead author, told CBC that the study shows that humans are not the only organisms that can benefit from inheritances.

The research was published in the journal Ecology Letters, and was part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a long-term study in Yukon that brings together scientists from several universities to investigate squirrel ecology.