Squirrel spends most of her life searching for food. While searching for nuts the squirrel climbs trees and checks every corner of the forest. In order to survive winter, she hides all collected food. However, sometimes, the squirrel hides its storage so well that no matter how hard she tries, she can’t find it…

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Squirrels and their “forgetfulness” are the reason for millions of trees being planted all over the world. How? Unlike some birds, squirrels don’t have “mind maps” that help them remember where they had stored their food supply.

Instead of good memory, they rely on their sense of smell, which will help them find hazelnuts they had buried in the ground. As you might guess, part of the supply stays uncovered because squirrels don’t have a strong sense of smell. On these spots grow trees, and that’s how squirrels unknowingly save the planet and make it a better place.

Veverica zakopava zalihe hrane za zimu

Still, storing and separating aren’t the only challenges they face. To uncover where squirrels hide food, birds often “spy” on them. As soon as squirrels put away their supply, birds come, dig it up and steal everything they find.

In the meantime, squirrels realised this and decided to make “fake storages” to trick birds. When a bird stumbles upon several empty holes, it soon gives up on digging up and stealing.

All “fake storages”, stolen food and forgotten supply later turn into tall trees. This way, a squirrel takes part in tree planting without even knowing it.

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And so, the next time you hear the question: “Who will save the trees?”, you can loudly exclaim: “Squirrels!”

Translation to English: Sonja Stojiljković