Your vet can offer more guidance with finding the cause, and if needed, they may prescribe mood stabilizer medications to help minimize obsessive behavior like tail chasing. In short, if your pup is constantly spinning after their tail and you're struggling to redirect their attention, it's probably time to seek professional help. "A behavior becomes obsessive when it begins to interfere with daily life," says Alison Creighton, registered veterinary technician with VCA Animal Hospitals. If your dog can't seem to leave their tail alone, consider talking with a veterinarian or animal behaviorist about the issue, Logsdon-Hoover says.īut how can you tell your dog isn't just having a fun time? On the other hand, a dog that spends a great deal of time tail-chasing may need an outlet for their pent-up energy, Logsdon-Hoover says. What to do next: If your dog gets playful with their tail once in a while, you probably don't need to worry. But even tailless dogs can develop spinning habits. According to Logsdon-Hoover, this is especially common in dogs that spend a lot of time in cages or kennels or are regularly left alone at home for long periods - particularly in high-energy dogs with tails. Over time, this occasional behavior can turn into a habit. And of course, when they start to chase it, they might find it somewhat easier to catch than that pesky backyard squirrel. Your dog might naturally feel excited when they look back and catch a glimpse of their tail wagging in all directions. Please follow this link for more information."Dogs do what feels good, makes them happy, or provides a reward," says Angela Logsdon-Hoover, regional technician director with VCA Animal Hospitals. You may have found some of those egg-filled cocoons while digging in your garden.īut then you probably remembered that from your high school biology… When the worms mate the clitellum secretes the protective cocoon around their fertilized eggs. Note: The clitellum has a reproductive function when hermaphroditic earthworms reproduce sexually. Uinta Ground Squirrels are primarily herbivores, eating mostly grass, seeds and leaves (on this same morning I photographed them eating both grass and sagebrush) but they’re also known to eat a small amount of earthworms and even discarded human food.īut worms for breakfast – this was a first for me so it was fun to get documentary photos. Here he’s still chewing the last wormy morsel. I can only guess why the squirrel turned the worm around but he appeared to.Īs he continued to munch away the remnants of the worm became shorter and shorter. That allowed us to see the clitellum, the lighter colored swelling covering several segments nearer to the head end. In fact he appears to be using the clitellum as a “handle” of sorts.īut after much of the anterior end had been eaten the squirrel turned the worm around and began to work on the posterior end. Notice that the squirrel began his meal at the anterior or head end of the worm which tends to be darker in color and a little more robust than the posterior end.Ī lighter colored reproductive organ called the clitellum is closer to the anterior end and is typically used to distinguish the “head” end from the “tail” end but in this photo most of the clitellum is hidden by the rodent’s grasping paws. But given the grasping and manipulative effectiveness of the rodent’s “hands” it didn’t have a chance of escape. The worm was a slippery squirmer as most earthworms are in situations like this. I’ve photographed this species eating various kinds of vegetation countless times in the past but apparently this feller felt the need for some additional springtime protein. Two days ago while looking for birds in the mountains we found this Uinta Ground Squirrel beginning to enjoy “his” earthworm breakfast. If you pay attention you just never know what you’ll encounter “out there”.
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