No more acorns! Hungry squirrel chows down on a LIZARD in stomach-churning images
- Biologist Jeff Nordland came across the hungry squirrel travelling in Arizona
- He saw the animal by the side of the road munching away on the body of a lizard
- Squirrels are omnivores and so often feast on small bird eggs, lizards and snakes
A biologist has captured stomach-churning images of a squirrel tucking into a lizard that shatter the popular image of cute bushy-tailed creatures that dine on acorns and seeds.
Jeff Nordland, from San Diego, California, was on the hunt for photo opportunities in south-east Arizona when he came across a squirrel sitting at the side of a dirt track.
When he pulled out his camera to get a closer look, he realized that the animal was munching away on a lizard, rather than a mouthful of nuts.
Jeff believes the hungry creature was a rock squirrel and its meal was a Clark’s spiny lizard.
Biologist Jeff Nordland was travelling through Arizona looking for wildlife photography opportunities when he came across a squirrel munching on a lizard
His photographs and video show the squirrel sitting perfectly still, holding the lizard in both paws with its internal organs and what appear to be eggs spilling out of the body.
Jeff said: ‘It’s possible that the lizard had been killed by a passing vehicle and then the squirrel scavenged it off the road.
‘Rock squirrels are known to scavenge dead animals from roads, including other squirrels.
‘The thing is, the lizard body didn’t appear to have been totally crushed by a car tire and Clark’s spiny lizards primarily live in trees.
Jeff pulled out his camera and filmed the squirrel enjoying its meal. As he zoomed in it was clear that internal organs and what appear to be eggs were dangling from the lizard
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen one on a road but gravid lizards of many species do frequently use roads and roadside berms to bask and warm themselves to a higher than normal temperature, in order to mature their eggs sufficiently before laying.
‘It’s also possible that the squirrel grabbed the lizard off of a tree trunk or rock, dispatched it with a bite to the head, then proceeded to devour it bite by chewy bite.
‘I felt bad for the poor lizard, and I was a bit astonished.
‘Exactly how it all went down will remain a mystery.’
Squirrels are omnivores, meaning they consume other animals such as lizards and snaked as well as the more typically-expected nuts and berries
Jeff said this was the first time he had seen a squirrel eating another animal, despite visiting Arizona twice a year to take wildlife photographs.
Rock squirrels are one of the largest member of the Scuridae family and can grow to measure a foot in length.
They are native to native to the Sonoran Desert, and from Southern Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, and south through Arizona, New Mexico and into Mexico.
Though many people imagine the diet of a squirrel to consist of berries and nuts, they are actually omnivores and so often consume small bird eggs, lizards and snakes.
The footage was originally posted on Jeff’s Instagram account on July 22 but has recently been re-shared online.
Responding to the video, one person commented: ‘No that’s a first for me. Awesome shot.’
Another described the video as something ‘from The Walking Dead’.