I was out hunting earlier and saw two squirrels chasing. I shot one of them and found a fresh wound where the testicles used to be. I shot it in the head with a 22lr, so it wasn't the bullet. There were also a lot of scratch marks on its stomach.

I've heard of this happening from other hunters before, but I heard from a wildlife biologist that this is a myth. This one case isn't proof, but I'm a believer. Nature is a savage place.

No idea if it’s true or not. My crazy uncles called the squirrel what does the castrating a “perididdle.”

Can’t imagine a squirrel knows what parts do what haha.

I've always heard gray squirrels would do it to fox squirrels.

My Mother told me years ago that the Momma squirrel would castrate all but one male in each litter. I have no knowledge if this is true but I've found in my later years that woman was way smarter than her academic record would indicate.

Figured out how to upload images.

Well, this is one thing I never thought I'd be looking at. More than likely he just fell out of a tree and hooked them on a limb on the way down.

I’ve killed a good many male grays with no nuts.

He got into a fight with a dominate male and was castrated to keep him from breeding
Sometimes they dont survive and sometimes they do
I saw this numerous times when i was a kid and skwerl hunting was all we did

That could be the case, but that doesn't explain why it was covered in claw marks. You can see some of them in the photo if you look at the stomach.

That's what I think happened. It was a young squirrel being chased by a large male, and it's mating season. I'm pretty sure I did that thing a favor by shooting it.

Ya'll may be right, but I still find it hard to believe that the squirrel knows enough biology to intentionally castrate another squirrel.

They know enough biology to reproduce!!!!!

You right there!!😂😂😂

John Koprowski is where I first heard this is a myth when he was on Meat Eater Podcast #259, which I highly recommend all squirrel hunters listen too. I did not believe in this after listening to the podcast, but what I saw the other day changed my mind. As a member of the scientific community, I can tell you we get things wrong sometimes. My case is just an anecdote and far from proof, but it was enough evidence to convince me. I may try reaching out to Dr Koprowski. If I use my work email, I might actually get a response.

Amazing how this guy calls folklore something I’ve seen many times and killed skwerls with no nutz
Park skwerls may be different….who knows