Not much more than a century ago, in towns and cities across North America, we still hunted squirrels for dinner! That made them rare, but now that's all changed. Squirrels are a wonderful example of nature adapting to the fastpaced urban life that dominates much of their former territory. And, yet, we pay little attention to these furry creatures that share our city parks and streets.

We see them every day, scurrying around our parks looking for nuts, tearing through our backyards and fearlessly leaping through the air from tree to tree, but most of us know very little about our furry fellow urbanites. What makes them so squirrelly and do they really remember where they bury their nuts? In Nuts about Squirrels, meet the scientists who are foraging for answers. Getting inside their heads to figure out what makes them tick is no easy task, but Joel Brown from the University of Illinois at Chicago, has designed some creative experiments to do just that. He takes advantage of their passion for nuts and seeds to reveal their inner 'landscape of fear' and gives us a tour of a typical backyard from a squirrel's perspective. Perhaps Joel Brown gets some of his squirrel insider information from watching Rowdy his 'pet' squirrel "a rehabilitation failure." Whatever it is he's inspired hundreds to become citizen squirrel scientists who are building a detailed picture of North America's squirrels.

The Nature of Things is hosted by the worldrenowned geneticist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, the program is in its 55th season, a landmark by any standard

http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/
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The Nature of Things is one of the most successful series in the history of Canadian television. Every week, the influential program presents stories that are driven by a scientific understanding of the world. Stories full of adventure, drama and insight. Our programs entertain and inspire audiences by engaging with the people and personalities behind the science. From the search for other life in the universe to the psychology of babies, from the furry animals that invade your backyard to the consequences of human progress, The Nature of Things throws open the door to the wonder and accomplishments of science.