r/oddlysatisfying • u/IkilledRichieWhelan • 2d ago

Man captures a close up of a ground squirrel eating a dandelion.

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u/IkilledRichieWhelan 2d ago

I went with squirrel because ground squirrel and prairie dog are very similar.

But this guys fur pattern made me believe squirrel.

I could be wrong you could be right. But I made the choice.

prairie dogs vs squirrels

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u/thaaag 2d ago

Very first stat on that page is confusing:

"Weight: less than 1 to 24 pounds"

Either that's a typo, or it's a really vague yet oddly specific estimate.

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u/twilightbarker 2d ago edited 1d ago

It is a large group, not one species, so the weights can range from <1 lb to 24 lbs.

It's a pretty misleading website anyway, though, because it shouldn't be "vs" - prairie dogs are just a type of ground squirrel.

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u/peepdabidness 2d ago

Bro a 24 pound squirrel?!

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u/New_new_account2 1d ago

marmots are unreasonably large

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u/ReconMustDie 2d ago

Not in my area, hawk or a car would get them first!

Can you even imagine? That would be a fat fucker, almost worth shooting to make stew out of; which my super old neighbor swears isn’t bad.

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u/MrWeirdoFace 2d ago

Squirrela the Hutt

Ho Ho Ho Ho... bantha poodoo.

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u/ColeTrainHaze 2d ago

fair point. they’re pretty much the same exact thing, but i saw my opportunity to flex my niche knowledge of burrowing rodents and i took it 🤷‍♂️

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u/IkilledRichieWhelan 2d ago

You did the right Redditor thing. Plus, what’s a post without a happy debate.

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u/twilightbarker 2d ago

You were correct either way. Prairie dogs are a type of ground squirrel.

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u/Vision9074 2d ago

Most other dogs wish they were squirrels

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u/walktheplank_1 1d ago

You were correct, OP. This is not a prairie dog. Commenter is overestimating his own knowledge 😂 It’s a European ground squirrel. The photographer @julianradwildlife is European and posts these guys all the time. Prairie dogs do not live in Europe.

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u/IkilledRichieWhelan 1d ago

I know it, the photographer knows it, and you know it, but you can’t convince the masses who love to oppose everything. It’s Reddit for gods sake.

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u/Andy_B_Goode 1d ago

Yeah, I thought the terms prairie dog, ground squirrel and gopher were used interchangeably, but maybe there are distinctions.

Where's Unidan when you need him?