Science of the “Left Handed” Squirrel
If you’ve ever watched your backyard squirrel carefully hold an acorn like a tiny, bushy-tailed lumberjack, you might’ve wondered: “Wait… is that squirrel left-handed?” Believe it or not, that’s not such a nutty question. Scientists who study animal behavior have found that squirrels can show a preference for one paw over the other—kind of like how humans favor their right or left hand. So yes, that squirrel on your fence might actually be a proud little lefty. My child, being a proud lefty, made it their mission to catch a squirrel using their left paw to pick up a nut or paw at the window. This little guy looks like he is giving off the “don’t break my heart” vibes, with his one right paw heart breaker!
One of the clearest clues comes from simply watching how squirrels eat. Researchers have observed squirrels handling nuts and pine cones over and over again, and many squirrels consistently used the same paw to stabilize or rotate their food. By recording repeated feeding sessions, scientists found that this wasn’t random—each squirrel tended to stick with its “favorite” paw, especially while maneuvering tricky snack situations.
You can test this in your own backyard or local park. Offer a squirrel a walnut, peanut or acorn. Look closely at their paws, did the squirrel grab it with their left or right paw, or did they just go head first and grab the nut with their teeth. Most often our squirrels latch on to the nut with their teeth and carry it away. Once they get to a comfortable distance, they rotate the nut to grind the top layer off. It’s fun to really look close and see if you can see a paw preference. It makes you realize, we have a little more in common with our furry friends than we originally thought!
Scientists have also tested this idea with more controlled experiments. In these studies, squirrels were given tasks that required them to reach for or manipulate food in a specific way. After tracking which paw was used across multiple attempts, researchers found measurable patterns—some squirrels leaned left, some leaned right, and a few switched it up like true ambidextrous acrobats.
This behavior ties into something called brain lateralization, which is just a fancy way of saying the two sides of the brain specialize in different things. A squirrel’s paw preference reflects how its brain is wired, not just habit or coincidence. So when a squirrel consistently grabs snacks with the same paw, it’s actually showing off a bit of its neurological personality—pretty impressive for a creature that also forgets where it buried half its snacks.
Here’s a funny twist: being strongly “left-pawed” or “right-pawed” might not always be an advantage. Some research suggests that squirrels with a strong preference can be a little less flexible when learning new tasks compared to those that use both paws more evenly. In other words, the squirrel that looks a bit indecisive at the bird feeder might actually be the clever one. Either way, the next time you’re watching your backyard squirrel, keep an eye out—you just might spot a tiny, fuzzy lefty living its best life.