Squirrel king


A squirrel king is a bunch of squirrels whose tails have tangled together, making them unable to self-separate. It is similar to a phenomenon recorded in rats, the rat king, of rats with tails tangled together. The squirrels that become tangled are nest-mates, whose tails become knotted together. It may occur with the assistance of the nesting materials, also becoming part of the knot, as a sort of binder. Or, tree sap may glue the tangled tails together. If the squirrels are not separated, they will invariably die, making this a lethal condition. Unlike the rat king, the squirrel king is not found in medieval European literature.

List of naturally occurring incidents

occurrenceAmountLocationCountryDescription
September 19894Easton, PennsylvaniaUnited States of AmericaThey were severely injured and euthanized.
19915Baltimore, MarylandUnited States of AmericaThey were tangled and glued together by tree sap. They were successfully separated. Of the 5, 2 were albino squirrels.
July 19975Brantford, OntarioCanadaThey were tangled and glued together by tree sap. They were successfully separated.
June 20136Regina, SaskatchewanCanadaThey were tangled and glued together by tree sap. They were successfully separated alive.
26 August 20135Michigan City, IndianaUnited States of AmericaBabies were almost euthanized after initlal failures at separation. The day after disentanglement they returned to their mother.
November 20143MarylandUnited States of AmericaGlued together by tree sap.
29 April 20163Beaver Falls, PennsylvaniaUnited States of AmericaJuveniles were successfully untangled.
May 20165Winnipeg, ManitobaCanadaBabies were successfully separated.
21 May 20174Bangor, MaineUnited States of AmericaJuveniles were successfully separated, then released that day to reunite with their mother.
mid-May 20186Elkhorn, NebraskaUnited States of America8-week-olds were successfully untangled, and all lived.
summer 20184Nova ScotiaCanadaBy the time the juveniles were discovered, 3 had died. To separate them, the tail of the survivor had to be amputated.
mid-September 20184Loveland, ColoradoUnited States of AmericaBabies were successfully separated at the Larimer Humane Society.
23 September 20183Boulder, ColoradoUnited States of AmericaThey were successfully untangled.
September 20185WisconsinUnited States of AmericaThey were successfully untangled.
May 20194Stockton on Tees, County Durham, EnglandUnited KingdomBabies were successfully separated.
May 20194Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, EnglandUnited KingdomBabies were successfully separated.
19 September 20194Beacon Falls, ConnecticutUnited States of AmericaBabies were successfully separated, however, part of 1 tail needed to be amputated.

Unnatural incidents

There have been incidents of animal cruelty or taxidermic artwork, where humans tied the tails of squirrels together, making something resembling the natural squirrel king.

Incidents of animal cruelty