Viral clip
Cinematic performance: flying squirrel fakes his own death – for attention
The squirrel lay under a broom to stage his death
© Screenshot Facebook
A video that is currently going viral shows a flying squirrel apparently faking its own death to get attention from its keepers. The well thought-out performance causes enthusiasm on the net.
Twitter user “BirrelleBee” recently shared a video of a flying squirrel that has greatly amused many people on social media. She captioned the clip, “This flying squirrel fakes his own death and sets up an entire crime scene to get attention. I love everything about it.” And apparently, she’s not the only person who has taken a liking to the clever animal: the video this user shared from another source has since received almost 45,000 retweets, 9,000 comments and over 210,000 likes.
In the clip you can see the squirrel, which is said to be called “Bobo”, running through a narrow room and knocking over a broomstick leaning against the wall. Smart as the animal is, it then lies on its back, places the handle of the broom on its stomach and stretches its front legs out dramatically. “Bobo” then lies in this position for a while and apparently waits for someone to notice the scene.
The original video was first posted to Facebook by a woman from Taiwan. There you can also see how long the animal remains in the position – the clip lasts almost two minutes. There are also some reactions under this posting, but not nearly as much as on Twitter. Users who saw and commented on the shared Twitter video are absolutely delighted with “Bobo”: one user writes that it is the greatest video she has ever seen on the internet. Another user would like the animal to receive an Academy Award (the “Oscar”) for its cinematic performance. But while the majority of users are almost exclusively positive, there are also negative voices: one user writes that the animal apparently received too little attention in its childhood and that this behavior is worrying.
Reasons for housing unclear
Flying or flying squirrels are found in the wild in the forests of North America, Northeast Europe and especially Asia. Thanks to their hairy gliding skin, they can move through the air over distances of around 50 meters. Larger species even manage a few meters more. In nature, squirrels mostly live in tree cavities, where they also build their nests and raise their young. Depending on the species, the nocturnal animals can live up to 13 years.
The reasons why “Bobo” is kept in an apartment are not known. In some countries flying squirrels are common as pets, in Germany keeping them is also possible in principle, but only after official registration. And even if the animal in the video seems to be doing well and is a cute and clever actor, a life in the wild would probably be more species-appropriate for each squirrel.