[MUSIC] Have you ever watched a squirrel nervously dig a hole, just to drop a nut inside and then scurry off?

Its a common behavior among squirrels and other animals to gather food when its plentiful, then store it away for times when its not.

But I lose my keys inside my own house, and I dont even have to put ‘em in a hole first.

Do squirrels REALLY remember where they bury all those nuts?

For a long time, people thought the only way squirrels found stored food, whether it was left there by them or another squirrel, was thanks to their sense of smell and a healthy does of luck.

But when researchers took a closer look, they dug up quite a surprise.

When grey squirrels were given food, they promptly buried it, because thats just what squirrels do.

But when the squirrels went looking for it later, each of them preferentially returned to its own food stores, even though other squirrels had buried food nearby during er iment.Th is means squirrels arent just lucky, theyve mastered a sort of episodic memory, the kind we use to recall events that happened at a certain place and time.

Theyre even able to construct a kind of mental map of their environment, and use it to make plans for the future.

member the location of all their stashes, which is a good thing for baby trees, but its definitely more than luck.

And like any good investor, squirrels take more time and care hiding food thats more valuable or scarce.

The squirrels even realize that theres thieves out there in the world, so theyll sometimes dig decoy holes to deceive the would-be burglars and sometimes, it works on the scientists too.

Western scrub jays have an even better trick up their feathery sleeve to fool potential pilferers.

When they know theyre being watched, theyll re-bury their food as soon as the thieves fly away.

It was once assumed that this kind of mental time travel, the ability to take actions today for future needs, was limited to humans and higher apes, but squirrels, and even some birds, seem to have buried THAT idea once and for all.

Stay curious