Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 10:09
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Predatory Spiders in the Arctic Food Web

Mr. LaFave,

Where do Arctic Ground Squirrels fit in the Arctic food web? Do they eat wolf spiders? Or, do the two species not inhabit the same area?

Krista Kowalczyk

Thu, 07/19/2012 - 13:42

Nick LaFave

Both species are found in the same area. Ground squirrels will eat pretty much anything. They are a lot like racoons in that way. They love the carrots we trap them with. They have been seen eating out of trash cans, and raiding bird nests. I even heard about one ground squirrel eating a dead ground squirrel on the Haul road until he was also run over! It doesn't seem like they would go out of their way to hunt the spiders with all of the other food choices available to them.