Heartbreaking photos of a squirrel using PLASTIC BAGS ‘to build its nest’ show the dismal impact of human litter on urban wildlife
- Squirrel was seen by a photographer on a wall in London Borough of Haringey
- Images reveal the animal struggling with the bulk and weight of the bags
- It is thought the rodent may have been using the plastic bags for a nest
Disturbing images of a squirrel wrestling with large plastic bags reveal the difficulty urban wildlife has coping with human litter.
The squirrel was snapped by a photographer on a wall and may have been taking the carrier bags to help build its nest.
This event may be the first direct evidence of the rodents using plastic litter in this way.
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The rodent is seen on its hind legs seemingly struggling under the bulk of the bags it is carrying in its two fore limbs. It can barely see where it is going through the plastic scraps it is carrying and transfers them into its jaws to scurry off
The rodent is seen on its hind legs seemingly struggling under the bulk of the bags it is carrying in its two fore limbs.
It can barely see where it is going through the plastic scraps it is carrying and transfers them into its jaws to scurry off.
In 2018 scientists discovered plastic in the nest of squirrels, indicating they had begun using plastic waste as a building material.
Henry Jacobs, 73, spotted the squirrel along the Lee Valley Navigational Canal, in the London Borough of Haringey.
Mr Jacobs said: ‘When I first saw it, I didn’t know what I was looking at.
‘I knew it was an animal, but I genuinely couldn’t work out what animal it was for the first few seconds.

Disturbing images of a squirrel wrestling with large plastic bags reveal the difficulty urban wildlife is having with human litter. The squirrel was snapped by a photographer on a wall and may have been taking the carrier bags to help build its nest

Henry Jacobs, 73, spotted the squirrel along the Lee Valley Navigational Canal, in the London Borough of Haringey. The behavioural change of squirrels collecting plastic waste to build their nests was first spotted by an Indian scientist in 2018
‘It was a very unusual sight. I thought, what is it doing with that? Why would it want plastic? It looked very odd.
‘I didn’t even know about squirrel nests until I looked it up later that day – and then I found out that they use what is available to them.’
The behavioural change of squirrels collecting plastic waste to build their nests was first spotted by an Indian scientist in 2018.
Dr Mewa Singh, of the Bio-psychology Laboratory at the University of Mysore, in Karnataka, south India, observed the behaviour in Indian palm squirrels.
His research discovered squirrels use plastic bags, plastic threads and cigar butts as nesting materials in urban areas, instead of leaves, twigs, shredded bark, mosses and other soft materials.
Researchers saw the squirrels collect a long plastic sheet from a small dump yard, carefully check it and tear it into the appropriate size and shape.