Researchers are nuts for Yukon's 'squirrel camp'

Andrea Wisharttells people she chases squirrels for a living.

She's only half-joking the University of Saskatchewan Ph.D. student has spent months tracking and observing the little rodents at "squirrel camp,"also known asthe Kluane Red Squirrel Project. It's a small but renownedresearch campat the foot of the SaintElias mountains, alongside the Alaska Highway in Yukon.

"Obviously, there's much more to what I do than just running around the forest looking at little tree rodents," Wishart said. "But I'm fascinated with how animals interact with their environments and manage their own resources."

The Kluane Red SquirrelProject launched 31years agois a partnership between five universities: McGill, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Guelph and Michigan. It allows students and researchers to live on siteand study the little animals in theirnatural habitat.

The camp's doormat readswhat else?"Welcome to the nuthouse."

Data collected at the camp over the years has shed light oneverything from squirrels' "personality" and social behaviourto their sex lives.

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"We know everyone who's lived here;we know who's related to who, how often they've bred, who they've given birth to, who they mated withall of that information," said Zach Fogel, a senior technician at the camp.

Wishart'sresearch focus is on the squirrel's caching behaviour how they stockpilefood. She's even collared some animals with "squirrel Fitbits" to help track their movement.

"They basically have little addresses inthe forest that you can predictably find the same animal at, and they will stay at that territory for almost their whole life," she said.

Wishartsays the historic data, collected over decades,is invaluable.

"I think we're up to over 400 people that have been 'squirrellers', or technicians, on the project.It's a lot of peopletons and tons of researchers," she said.

"There's been influences in all kinds of different fields of research at this point, using squirrels as a model system. And some of the questions have been very squirrel-specific'why do squirrels specifically do what they do?' but the broader context of it is understanding how animals work in a wild environment."

'Really cool community atmosphere'

Rodent research is not for everyone even if the rodents are cute and bushy-tailed but for the biologists at squirrel camp, life doesn't get much better.

"I really love it," Fogel said."You know, there'sin my opinion something to be said for being outside all the time and just kind of a little bit dirty all the time.You know, my hands constantly have rubbed-in dirt, and we can't obviously shower that often."

But what makes the camp most special, he says, is the comraderie among scientists.

"In general, everyone helps each other out a lot.There's a really cool community atmosphere, you know, we have family dinner every night where no matter how busy people are with work," Fogel said.

Kiley Chernickyagrees. She's been working with Wishart, tagging, trapping and collaring squirrels, and counting pinecones.

Unlike the squirrels, Chernickyis not in her natural habitat. It's herfirst time in the boreal forest.

"It was a long way for me to come. I actually drove up from Florida to Saskatoon, and then took a flight from Saskatoon to Whitehorse," Chernicky said.

"The interactions that I have with the other scientistshere, the amount of knowledge and theories that are bounced off of each otherit's absolutely incredible."