A squirrel king is a collection of squirrels whose tails have tangled together, making them unable to separate themselves. It is similar to a phenomenon recorded in rats, the rat king. A squirrel king starts as a litter of young in the same nest, whose tails become knotted together by nesting materials and/or by tree sap gluing the tails together, particularly if the young squirrels have been gnawing bark of the tree that their nest is in, letting sap flow. If the squirrels are not separated, they may fall to the ground still joined to each other when they try to come out of their nest, and will invariably die unless separated through human intervention. Unlike the rat king, the squirrel king is not found in medieval European literature.
List of naturally occurring incidents
Occurrence Quantity of squirrels Location Country Description and outcomeSeptember 19894Easton, PennsylvaniaUnited StatesThey were severely injured and euthanized. 19915Baltimore, MarylandUnited StatesThey 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 StatesBabies were almost euthanized after initial failures at separation. The day after disentanglement they returned to their mother.November 20143MarylandUnited StatesGlued together by tree sap.29 April 20163Beaver Falls, PennsylvaniaUnited StatesJuveniles were successfully untangled.May 20165Winnipeg, ManitobaCanadaBabies were successfully separated.21 May 20174Bangor, MaineUnited StatesJuveniles were successfully separated, then released that day to reunite with their mother.mid-May 20186Elkhorn, NebraskaUnited States8-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 StatesBabies were successfully separated at the Larimer Humane Society.23 September 20183Boulder, ColoradoUnited StatesThey were successfully untangled.September 20185WisconsinUnited StatesThey were successfully untangled.May 20194Stockton on Tees, County Durham, EnglandUnited KingdomBabies were successfully separated.19 September 20194Beacon Falls, ConnecticutUnited StatesBabies were successfully separated, however, part of 1 tail needed to be amputated.10 September 20205Multnomah Village, OregonUnited StatesBabies were separated.24 May 20215Duluth, MinnesotaUnited StatesFive young squirrels found in a compost pile stuck together by their tails. Gathered babies in a cardboard box to transport to local vet parking lot to free them. All babies were rescued and they ran away shortly after. 1 October 20217Grand Blanc Township, MichiganUnited StatesBabies were successfully separated by police officers.14 May 20227Seaforth, OntarioCanadaBabies were successfully separated.September 20233Eagan, MinnesotaUnited StatesThree adolescent squirrels found in a brush pile with entangled tails. All three tails needed to be partially amputated. Food and water were provided; two of three survived and ran off.11 September 20235Norfolk, MassachusettsUnited StatesFive babies were rescued after falling out of their nest due to tails being stuck together with tree sap.11 September 20245Bend, OregonUnited StatesSeveral squirrels were pictured stuck together and unstuck by a local wildlife organization.30 September 20245Erie, ColoradoUnited StatesFive juvenile squirrels fell out of an ash tree. Overnighted in a cardboard box, in a garage, before being successfully separated by a local wildlife organization the next day. All were released, within 20 hours, back to the tree from which they fell.6 June 20255Dwight, OntarioCanadaFive squirrels — three babies, one juvenile, and one adult — stuck together with sap, leaves, and a string. Adult squirrel pulled loose on its own, damaging tail. Juvenile and babies were successfully separated with soapy water.15 May 20265Gansevoort, New York United StatesFive juvenile squirrels were tangled by tails by fibrous plant material in a nest. Two were already dead, one had to be euthanized due to tail having been wrapped around a hind foot, cutting off circulation and causing necrosis, and two survived.22 May 20266Glen Ellyn, Illinois United StatesSix squirrels bound up with plastic, straw, and fur. Successfully rescued by DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center.
Non-natural 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
On 19 September 2019, 4 squirrels were found knotted together and tied up, on railroad tracks in Berlin, Connecticut, USA. They survived to be separated, but needed some amputation. In order to tie them up, the person who performed the act had to break their tails.
References
Further reading
External links Squirrel King in Bangor, Maine (video)