Study of investment diversification on the UC-Berkeley campus

That’s a header from the excellent Mark Thorson.  Here is an excerpt:

“Think of them as little bankers depositing money and spreading it out in different funds, and doing some management of those funds,” said Mikel Delgado, a doctoral student in psychology who heads the squirrel research team in the laboratory of UC Berkeley psychologist Lucia Jacobs.

Here is another good squirrel sentence:

“Despite her disability, she’s great at caching,” said Delgado.

And this:

…squirrels shake their heads to assess the quality of the nut, and that this “head-flicking behavior” increases when they plan to store the nut rather than eat it.

Finally, unlike many of us:

While Delgado hopes to crack the mystery of which cognitive navigation skills squirrels use to find their personal stashes, one thing’s for sure: “They’re saving for the future,” she said, “and they’re really smart about it.”

The story is here.