Squirrels are ‘vaping’ e-cigarettes after mistaking fruity aromas for food
Squirrels are ‘vaping’ e-cigarettes after mistaking fruity aromas for food
This is absolutely nuts.
The e-cigarette scourge is has become so virulent that even the squirrels are apparently getting hooked on vaping.
In a viral video circulating online, a gray squirrel is seen toting an automated smoking device while perched on a fence in Brixton, South London, the Telegraph reported.
The tobacco-toting treehopper was clutching the device between its paws while appearing to chew on it, evoking the automated version of NYC’s infamous cigarette-smoking cockroach.
Meanwhile, in October, TikTok user @tts_tiktok22 posted a video of a squirrel in Philadelphia gnawing on what looks like an Elfbar.
However, these squirrels were likely not attracted to the nicotine, but rather the fruity smells wafting up from it, experts said.
“In the old days, you’d see lots of discarded cigarette butts, but I don’t remember squirrels running around with them,” Craig Shuttleworth, a red squirrel expert at Bangor University in Wales, told the outlet. “It would be reasonable to assume that a vape would be more attractive than a normal tobacco product that’s not fruity.”
Unfortunately, the detrimental effects could be the same.
The wildlife aficionado said that the critters could inadvertently consume microplastics by gnawing on the vaping devices, but they could also ingest the nicotine.
“They don’t encounter nicotine in the wild, so like many chemicals, it’s something you don’t want them exposed to,” he lamented.
“We would urge people to hold on to their litter until there’s an opportunity to dispose of it safely and responsibly,” they said, noting that five million single-use e-cigarettes were thrown out each week prior to a state ban on their sale.
This apparently isn’t a one-off, either. In a 2023 blog for the animal welfare society, RSPCA Scientific Officer Evie Button discussed a bird in New Zealand that died after swallowing a vaping device as well as pictures of a squirrel trying to bury one in Wales.
“We know that this will only be the tip of the iceberg as so many litter casualties go unseen and unreported, particularly with wildlife,” she lamented.
Wild animals aren’t the only victims of the scourge, per Button, who noted that the Veterinary Poisons Information Service has received 680 calls about vape incidents involving pets since 2017, 96 percent of which concerned dogs.
She wrote, “sadly, there have been reports of pets dying after consuming liquids from vapes.”
In fact, the adverse effects on humans have been underreported as well.
Widely marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes, vapes have been linked to everything from heart disease to dementia and of course, serious lung issues, with several teen e-cig addicts experiencing near-death from a lung collapse.
The American Heart Association has called the uptick in vape use among youths a “serious public health threat.
