It isn’t every day that a Facebook post makes us stop scrolling.
When we came across a viral post claiming California squirrels were “turning carnivorous” and actively hunting other animals, we had the same reaction many people probably did: There’s no way that’s real… right?
Now, you might be wondering why an automotive site is talking about squirrels. Fair question. However, I suspect if you own a Jeep Wrangler, a lifted truck, or an overlanding SUV, there’s a decent chance you’ve spent at least a little time debating the perfect zombie-apocalypse rig. Around here, we’ve certainly had that conversation more than once.
So when the internet started joking that California’s squirrels might be ground zero for the next zombie apocalypse, we figured we had to investigate.
The research itself isn’t brand new; it was published online in late 2024, but the claim has exploded across Facebook this week, racking up tens of thousands of reactions and sparking everything from apocalypse memes to debates over whether squirrels have secretly been tiny predators all along. As it turns out, the answer is mostly yes.
From Acorns to Active Hunting
We dug into the actual research paper to see whether the viral post was exaggerating the findings. Surprisingly, it wasn’t—at least not by much.
Researchers studying California ground squirrels documented 74 incidents involving squirrels hunting, eating, or competing over California voles during a two-month period in 2024. The study was published in the Journal of Ethology after more than a decade of research at Briones Regional Park in Northern California.
The squirrels weren’t simply scavenging dead animals.
Researchers watched them stalk voles through the grass, sprint after them across open ground, pounce on them, bite them around the neck, and occasionally shake them violently before carrying the carcasses away. Out of 31 observed hunting attempts, the squirrels successfully caught and killed their prey 17 times.
In many cases, the squirrels carried the dead vole to another location before eating it. Researchers noted that they typically began by removing the head before consuming meat, organs, and cartilage from the rest of the carcass.
Scientists also documented squirrels chasing and fighting one another over freshly killed voles, suggesting the newfound food source had quickly become one of the most valuable items in the colony.
Why Are They Doing It?
Despite what some viral posts suggest, researchers aren’t saying California squirrels suddenly evolved into predators overnight.
Instead, the hunting behavior coincided with an unusual explosion in California vole numbers during 2024. The researchers describe it as a “food pulse”—an unusually abundant prey population that gave squirrels an easy opportunity to add protein to their diets.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is how widespread the behavior became. Rather than involving just one or two unusual squirrels, researchers observed hunting across numerous individuals, including juveniles and adults of both sexes. That suggests this level of dietary flexibility may have been hiding in plain sight all along.
The study’s authors say the findings fundamentally change how California ground squirrels should be viewed. Rather than being strict seed-eaters, they argue the species is better described as an opportunistic omnivore capable of rapidly adapting when conditions change.
Readers Are Already Joking About a “Squirrel Apocalypse”
As you might expect, the internet wasted very little time imagining where this newfound hunting behavior could lead.
If you’ve spent much time around car enthusiasts, you’ve probably seen plenty of debates about the perfect vehicle for surviving a zombie apocalypse. Judging by the comments, some readers now think future survival plans may also need to account for meat-eating squirrels.
One of the most common jokes imagined “buff squirrels” bulking up on all that extra protein, while others wondered whether this was the beginning of a full-blown squirrel apocalypse. Quite a few commenters also referenced the long-running Rick and Morty gag about squirrels secretly plotting world domination.
Others pointed out that they had witnessed squirrels eating birds, lizards, mice, chicken wings, burgers, and even roadkill for years. Their argument was that this may be less about squirrels suddenly “turning carnivorous” and more about scientists finally documenting widespread hunting of live mammal prey.
That interpretation is actually pretty close to the researchers’ conclusion. California ground squirrels were already known to occasionally eat insects, bird eggs, nestlings, and other animal matter. What makes this study different is that scientists documented widespread, repeated hunting of live adult mammals in the wild.
While the social media posts lean into the shock value, the real takeaway may be even more fascinating: scientists are still discovering surprising behavior in one of North America’s most familiar animals.
So, no—this probably isn’t the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. However, if you were looking for an excuse to spend a little more money outfitting your Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Ford Bronco, or overlanding truck, feel free to send this article to your spouse.
We can’t promise it’ll work, but we also can’t rule out the possibility that the squirrels are just getting started.