Lookie what I found!
Like little children, squirrels will pick up just about anything and put it in their mouth. They’re chewers by nature due to their ever-growing rodentine incisors… but usually when 
a squirrel is carrying around a payload in its piehole, it’s trying to find a good place to chow down on it. And what this squirrel has in its mouth is…….. holy crap!
No, that’s not a piece of a cactus…. but it’s almost as bad. If you live in the Midwestern part of the US, you probably recognize exactly what that squirrel has in its mouth, and are probably wincing at the very sight of it. It’s the fruit of the sweet gum tree, which I’ve featured a few times before on Saturday Squirrel, that’s nothing more than a spiky ball that is never up to any good. If you’ve ever stepped on one as a kid, you know what I’m talking about.
With all of the tasty treats scattered throughout the park, certainly you’re not going to try and eat that prickly orb, are you…..???
Mmmmmmmmmm! Good eatin’!
This week’s Saturday squirrel must have a cast iron stomach…. and throat and tongue apparently.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Yikes! You’d think he would toss that after the first chomp..
Apparently this squirrel likes food that bites back…
Hopefully it came to its senses
I watched him for a few minutes and he never quit pecking at it…. I guess there’s no accounting for taste.
Ouch, ouch and ouch. Our yard used to be littered with those things – never saw a squirrel touch one though!
I haven’t either, and I do a lot of squirrel watching! Who knows, maybe there’s something really good inside that makes the spikes worth it…
There’s no accounting for taste is there? I keep asking why it’s called “sweet” gum anyway. I guess tree landmines wasn’t PC?
Or maybe it was creative marketing by the landmine tree sellers. Just like “Greenland”…
What a nut case;
Better a nut case than a bird brain…
(S)he might be gnawing that spike ball open (sorta like a Sciuridae* can opener) to get at the delicious mooshy insides.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel
That’s like chewing on a jar of pickles to get it open. Might as well just use a hammer..
There are stupid people and apparently, stupid squirrels. 😉 Great photo though.
Do not attempt this at home…. professional stupid… I mean, stunt squirrel!
Ours like to chow down on black walnuts—so slimy and sour on the outside!
I’ve seen the squirrels around here chew on everything…. but not those thorny balls everyone hates! Even slimy and sour is better than sharp and painful!
Perhaps it’s not eating the nut but using it like a toothpick to clean out the leftover Cheezits it had swiped from the park trash can earlier in the day. They do get stuck in the teeth ya know!
Pam
That’s possible, but surely there are twigs that could accomplish that as well. Though I guess they can’t clean more than one tooth gap at the same time like the spiky ball can…
He’s going to hurt his little mouth 😮
And if he swallows it…….. the other end as well!
Mindlessly gnawing on that is sure to wake the little guy up. Hopefully before he swallows some because, like you say the comment above, that would hurt at the other end!
I’ve never seen squirrels chew on those things before…. or even pick them up! They may not be as sharp when they’re green like that, but it’s still got to be like chewing on a cactus!