![]() ![]() When spring begins to warm things up, some worms may eventually regrow their heads and tunnel their way to freedom. A cache of 470 worms was once found in a mole’s burrow. Moles store live earthworms underground by biting into their heads causing mutilating injury, which along with the cold weather makes them unable to escape. WATCH: Squirrels balance caution and curiosity as they seek and cache their food. Should the prey awaken before the shrew is ready, “they’re rebitten,” he says, and returned to their nap. The toxin renders the prey comatose so the shrews can bring it into their nest chamber for later consumption-days to weeks later. The shrews’ saliva is toxic, “so when they bite down, a toxin is injected and the animal becomes paralyzed,” says biologist Elmer Finck of Fort Hays State University in Oklahoma. These shrews usually prey on insect larvae. ShrewsĪll five species of short-tailed shrews have the same strategy for making sure their stored food doesn’t go bad. We found a few surprises, from head-biting moles to jerky-making ants. ![]() This includes humans, who hoard “pumpkin spice” items for the bleak, gourdless summer.Īnimals like chipmunks and squirrels usually come to mind when we think of stockpiling food, but we wondered which other animals hoard, or cache, stockpiles of food before winter sets in. Autumn is here, and a lot of animals are gathering foods to store up for winter. ![]()
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