Approximately every few decades, dozens of dead squirrels are carried to the shore of Lake Michigan by waves. Biologists still cannot understand what caused this strange, rare phenomenon. About several hundred dead squirrels have been found on the beach in recent days.
Visitors to the Grand Haven public beach on Lake Michigan have been facing a disturbing sight in the past few days. Scattered across the beach are many fresh squirrel carcasses.
Every day, dead squirrels are harvested, but more and more bodies are thrown onto the beach by the waves. Experts are expressing cautious versions of what could have happened here.
According to one version, the squirrels suddenly decided at once to cross the Grand River, which flows into the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, to get to the Grand Haven National Park.
Why they did this is unclear. There is a theory linking their behavior with the imminent onset of winter.
During the twentieth century, from time to time, accumulations of squirrel corpses were found in these places, but such a phenomenon occurs here very rarely, and it still has no official explanation. That is why the new squirrel anomaly alerted and even frightened many local residents.
Biologist Nick Keleis tries to reassure people by stating that this has already happened in the past and usually does not last long, and that although it is very unpleasant to see dead animals, there is no need to worry.
The last time a massive release of dead squirrels on a Michigan beach occurred 15 years ago. And before that, a similar phenomenon happened in 1968. These strange intervals do not yet fit into any natural migration cycles or natural population fluctuations.
2020 is a real disaster not only for humans. Birds, whales, squirrels and other animals die en masse. The causes of many deaths are not clear.
