@sweetbriarnaturecenter: It’s that time of year again! Chuppa, our ambassador squirrel, is already preparing for winter—and apparently, toilet paper makes excellent nesting material! As summer winds down and we head toward fall, squirrels begin shifting their focus to preparing for the colder months. They spend more time gathering food, building up their winter stores, and making sure their nests are warm and secure. And here’s something amazing: a squirrel’s brain actually changes in the fall! The hippocampus—the part of the brain involved in memory and spatial awareness—can increase in size by about 15%. This helps squirrels remember the locations of the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of nuts they’ve scattered and buried throughout their territory. So while Chuppa may look like she’s simply stealing toilet paper, she’s actually doing some very important winter preparation! Now if only she’d stop taking ALL the toilet paper…

Sweetbriar

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Tuesday 11 August 2026 13:17:38 GMT