Why squirrels beat bulls

As it turns out, squirrels know something that even the most hardened Wall Street investors don’t: diversification.  There’s a new study out from some scientists at UC Berkeley who are tracking squirrel hoarding patterns:

…the feisty fox squirrels  scampering around campus are not just mindlessly foraging for food, but engaging in a  long-term savings strategy. Humans could learn something about padding their nest eggs from squirrels’ diversification efforts.

Of course, with squirrels, it’s not about money, but about nuts.

“Think of them as little bankers depositing money and spreading it out in different funds, and doing some management of those funds,” said Mikel Delgado, a doctoral student in psychology who heads the squirrel research team in the laboratory of UC Berkeley psychologist Lucia Jacobs.

So while squirrels are busy hoarding their dinners for the summer, we humans are busy refinancing our mortgages and upping our consumer debt.  Tell me again, how did we end up at the top of the food chain?

Here’s a video if you’re interested in learning more: