This is called anthropomorphic taxidermy art. It is a real squirrel dressed as Queen Victoria mounted in a shadow box perfect for hanging on your wall. Crafted by Etsy seller lovedtodeath, this could be yours for only $495.00. Link -via Everlasting Blort

The "cheeky squirrel," originally posted at National Geographic and made famous by Neatorama’s own Upcoming Queue, has now gone viral on the internet.

Hundreds of photos, including many famous ones, have been modified by adding the ground squirrel.  Now you can do so with your own photo or one of your favorites from the web.

The simplest generator I’ve encountered is "The Squirrelizer." You cannot, however, upload an image from your computer; you will need to
use one that has a url (stored somewhere on a blog or in an
image library such as Imageshack).

After that, the generator is intuitive. If you don’t have an online account where you can store the image, just take a screen shot of your creation.

Link – via lutralutra

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.

Scientists interested in the ability of gray squirrels learn from watching other squirrels have come up with an ingenious (albeit a bit iffy from a moral perspective) study: teaching ‘em to steal!

The study suggests that squirrels are primed to recognise other squirrels as potential food thieves. It also shows that they learn more quickly from real life observations.

Corresponding author Dr Lisa Leaver of the University of Exeter, said: “Our study is significant because it is the first to show that grey squirrels learn from observing others. It adds to growing evidence that all kinds of animals, from humans and other primates to many species of birds, learn from observation and that they have evolved to learn quickly about those things that are most important to their lives – in the case of grey squirrels, gathering and storing nuts.”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by coconutnut.

You have probably seen the grey, no doubt you have heard of or read about the red.  But have you ever heard of a black squirriel?  The subgroup is on the rise.  If an animal was a meme, this would probably be it.  A real one, that is. The Black Squirrel, coming to a back garden near you soon(ish)…. and it may have dandruff.

This is the black squirrel. Out of the squirrel population of the United States and Canada perhaps only one in ten thousand is black. However, this is not a separate species in itself. It is in fact a sub-group of the grey squirrel and, little by little their numbers are growing. In fact in some areas they outnumber the greys. However, this black coloring is not a recent trend among the squirrel community – research indicates that in the days before the European settlement of the America the black squirrel was probably much more numerous than the grey.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

(Links open in a new browser window/tab)

	When Squirrel Attacks This short video clip confirmed my worst nightmare: that squirrels are highly trained in military maneuvers. Watch as one distracts and another one attacks ... Link
	Auto-Tune the News How do you make the news more interesting to the rest of us? Set it to music! Here's a clip from Sarah Fullen Gregory (excellent singer, actually) and The Gregory Brothers making the nightly news much, much more interesting. Link | If you like that, here's the second one in the Auto-Tune series | The Gay Marriage Debate, Auto-Tuned | more from YouTube schmoyoho
	Smoochie Girl Y'all know that Paris Hilton has the same facial expression in every photo, but she isn't the only woman in the world that does this. Behold the smoochie girl - and yes, she made the exact same smoochie face in every photo: Link
	The Weirdest Japanese Commercial Ever I have to say, I agree with the VideoSift title. It is indeed the weirdest Japanese commercial ever. Not going to describe it: you have to see it for yourself. Link
	Magnet Falling Down a Copper Tube All right, let's end this on a scientific note. Here's what happened when you drop a magnet down a copper tube. The video is not slowed down, the movement of the falling magnet creates an eddy current that exerts a damping force on the magnet. Link

For more the web's most interesting videos, check out: VideoSift.

Whether they’re on an obstacle course, drunk off fermented pumpkin or just being cute, squirrel videos will get you through a Wednesday. 

– via urlesque

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by thatguy455.

I mean, come on: gerbil underpants, sure. Chipmunk underpants, definitely. But squirrel underpants? That’s just ridiculous.

Link (The video is quite funny)

They often say a mother’s love has no boundaries, and this series of photos shows the length the squirrel mother will go to to keep her baby safe.

When the dog corners the frightened young one she leaps in for the attack and lets it get to safety so quickly the bemused dog is left wondering what happened, as they both scamper safely up a tree

A true tale of valiance from the animal kingdom.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Jake.

I don’t post a lot of links to eBay auctions (the links expire too quickly) but this one by jdwildlifeartistry is too weird to pass up. Behold a gray squirrel soldier holding a rifle, mounted on a plaque!

Link | the eBay Auction

More weird eBay auctions at Urlesque’s Today in eBay feature.

Teachers and pupils at Meoncross School in Stubbington, Hants, were amazed when they saw the creature through the window during a lesson.

Since the squirrel, now nicknamed Pete, was first seen, it has become a regular fixture at the school but no one has been able to say whether the animal has fallen into purple paint, had a run-in with some purple dye, or whether there is another explanation.

Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Solent News and Photo Agency)

Update: Loooks like it might be printer ink. -Thanks, Kyyria!

"I’m used to seeing so many acorns around and out in the field, it’s something I just didn’t believe," he said. "But this is not just not a good year for oaks. It’s a zero year. There’s zero production. I’ve never seen anything like this before."

The absence of acorns could have something to do with the weather, Simmons thought. But he hoped it wasn’t a climatic event. "Let’s hope it’s not something ghastly going on with the natural world."

To find out, Simmons and Arlington naturalists began calling around. A naturalist in Maryland found no acorns on an Audubon nature walk there. Ditto for Fairfax, Falls Church, Charles County, even as far away as Pennsylvania. There are no acorns falling from the majestic oaks in Arlington National Cemetery.

"Once I started paying attention, I couldn’t find any acorns anywhere. Not from white oaks, red oaks or black oaks, and this was supposed to be their big year," said Greg Zell, a naturalist at Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington. "We’re talking zero. Not a single acorn. It’s really bizarre."

Link

Jeb Corliss has leaped from buildings and other places in a single bound. Now, he plans to do it without the aid of a parachute.

Corliss, who is a base jumper, has made jumps in 16 countries and five contents, more than 1,000 in all, from the likes of the Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge.

His latest venture is trying to jump from a helicopter and land without using a parachute.

Corliss says he’ll wear a wing suit, which makes him look like a flying squirrel. He plans to landing on a specially designed runway he designed. It will cost up to $2 million. Once he gets the funding for his project, he says it could take up to four months to actually pull off.

He added, “A wing suit, basically, is fabric that goes between your arms and between your legs and it changes the shape of your body. So you become, in essence, a flying squirrel.

He explains that he plans to land on his belly, suggesting, “Imagine an aircraft — aircraft don’t land on their tails, they land on their bellies. That’s exactly what I’m gonna become. I’m gonna become an aircraft’ I’m gonna be landing on my belly.

Why in the world would Corliss try this?

“I wouldn’t I’m doing this because I’m a thrill-seeker. I’m a person who has dreams and my life is based on making those dreams come true. And that’s what I focus on.”

Source: CBS News
Video: Breitbart