What is happening when a squirrel jumps & dances?

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Thirties

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
651
Location
Where the Red Sox meet the Black Bears
Sometimes when I think I've hit a squirrel (.22lr-hv/Ruger 10/22), the little critter starts wildly jumping and dancing. Most times, I'm able to stop him with a second shot. But other times, the guy gets away. Are they hit, but with a non-fatal injury when that happens? What are their bodies doing? Is this an evasion technique,or are they hurt and trying best they can to get away?

I'm not an experienced backyard hunter, and I want to learn more about shooting squirrels.

And, for those who ask, I hit the animal solid where he falls right down about 80% of the time. That jumping/dancing is the other 10%-15%. The rest of the time I miss and they just run.
 
Last edited:
Not so fast there... I have seen squirrels doing this when no one was shooting at them. My guess was there were some sort of fleas or fireants biting them... Of course if Rocky is just sitting there trying to remember where he hid his nuts when you shoot then he starts doing the funky chicken... Most likely an off shot... Have you checked for multiple hits once you got em down?
 
My two thoughts.

I'm thinking either you just grazed them and gave Rocky a razor burn or he's telling you off for disturbing his morning stroll. I usually try for head shots, that way I get either an instant kill or a clean miss. When I go with my .36 flinter I take body shots because the bigger ball will kill a squirrel with a peripheral hit where a .22 wouldn't.
 
They're doing the same dance as when you roll over 'em doing 35 mph in your car. Hmmm - must not have been 'enough car'... :rolleyes: ;)
 
I always thought they did this, when they got "stung" with dirt and stuff from a near miss. Or the bullet passed so close by it confused them. I use a .22 and try for headshots, so its either DRT or off they go. I have shot a couple while bird hunting, with a shotgun, but they died instantly.
 
I must have shot 100 little red squirrils at my old house in ten years. At 60 yards, from a bench, I could not hit them in the head realiby.

They would usually do their dance before dieing within a foot or two. I think it is losing blood pressure to the brain that causes the dance.
 
Ken, thanks for your reply. I also find it very difficult to get consistent head shots from an off-hand hold even at 25 to 35 yards.

But I still have a very good success rate. The dance explanation is interesting...
 
I had that happen to me once. I shot a squirrel with my .410(full choke) out of a tree. It did the keel over and fall 40 feet to the ground (I was on a ridgetop and the tree at bottom of ridge so it was actually only a 20 some yard shot for me) it hit the ground hard then jumped up and started doing the dance with backflips. I thougt it was doing some extreme death twitches so I just watched. then the squirrel took off through the woods and climbed another tree. Never saw the critter again. I've shot plenty of squirrels with my .410 and if a pellet gets the brain then they twitch otherwise its instant death. The only thing I can think of is I missed but was close enough that one of the pellets burned him or something. ( this was around the time I was having flinching problems from my 12ga slug gun, I missed alot of squirrels that day but I have since cured my flinch. I also sold my 12 ga pump and bought a sweet little 20 ga pump)
 
Bugs, yes, that is exactly the dance I'm asking about. I'm trying to satisfy my curiosity of what is the cause of the dance.

I'm not looking for a bipod for shooting squirrels off hand with a .22 rifle. Nor am I looking for "more gun" for the little guys.

I'm doing fine with my bulk pack hollow point high velocity .22lr rounds. As I said, I get 80% of them right away with one shot. And maybe half of the remaining 20% I am able to fell with a second shot during the dance.

I put the question here where maybe a fellow squirrel shooter may actually know what is happening inside the critter when he does that dance.
 
The reason the squirrels are doing this dance is because you have shot them but not a kill shot. When a squirrel is shot like this they think that some other animal has a hold on them, and they are trying to fight off this other animal. When they realize that there is nothing there they run off. One of my coyote hunting friends told me a story once about a coyote that was shot. When this dog was shot it was hit by a .270 in the lower leg. This shot ripped the coyote's lower leg off, and when this happend the dog turned and started biting it's own leg. All that coyote knew was that it's leg was hurting and it was tring to fight off what was on it. I am thinking that the same thing is going on here.
 
I been shootin a few of em off the bird feeder lately with the kids paint ball gun and they do this dance nearly every time I hit them and sometimes when a near miss showers them with paint. Aint at all like the death dance they do when he shoot em in the head tho.
 
Try death spasms/final muscular contractions or "twitches" . . . they are acrobatic, high-strung little critters (or, you shot them while they were practicing for their audition on "American Idol" <sorry, couldn't resist>).
 
1 of two things, you only wounded the squirrel and it has mobilitiy issues as it crawls away. Or you have seen what happens when the impulse signals form brain to muscles gos haywire.

Best to see this effect of random muscle orders from a brain when you kill an animal up close. Kill the brain stem on your meat goat with a 22 up close and it will kick for a minute or so, its dead and not feeling a thing but the muscles are still reacting to the final commands form the brain.
 
I've shot hundreds of squirrels. They're tough buggers, even the little red ones. What I used to think was "grazing" was often as not a horrific wound, but they're still able to run away. That's one reason I switched to the CZ, because it's accurate enough to get brain or heart/lung shots.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
Cream colored tree squirrel
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
MedGrl
M
Swifty Morgan
  • Locked
Do Squirrel Calls Actually Work?
Replies
18
Views
3K
MCgunner
M
Onmilo
  • Locked
Squirrel hunting,,,,
Replies
7
Views
824
U.S.SFC_RET
U
D
  • Locked
Got my first squirrel
Replies
17
Views
962
MCgunner
M
Joshua M. Smith
  • Locked
Nikki's Second Squirrel of the Season
Replies
5
Views
487
Roughneck08
R
Back
Top