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Southern California's Black Mountain, a quail stands on a tree
stump at the edge of a clearing in a forest of conifers. The
bird does not seem to notice that it is being stalked at this
very moment by...a fox? A coyote? Elmer Fudd? No, a squirrel. A
western gray tree squirrel, to be precise. Hunkered down in a
predatory crouch, the squirrel approaches with a rustle of
fallen pine needles and tree leaves. When the rodent is within a
few inches of the stump, it pounces upon the quail, a brief
struggle ensues, but the quail escapes, leaving the luckless
squirrel to try again later. Biologist J.R. Callahan, of the
University of New Mexico, recounted his observation of this
stealth squirrel in a recent article in the scientific journal
Great Basin Naturalist, in which he showed that the bushy-tailed
animals we think of as cute little park dwellers have a dark
side. Callahan compiled a list of squirrel victims that range
from doves, blue jays and other