LONDON — People strolling through New York City parks may be stopped in their tracks this summer by a squirrel sprawled out, face down, limbs outstretched and motionless. Not to worry, says the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. They just “steal”. A tweet from the parks service earlier this week went viral online, confusing and exciting people in equal measure, after it advised: “If you see a squirrel lying like this, don’t worry. it’s just fine.” He added that “on hot days, squirrels keep cool by spreading out (stretching) on cool surfaces to reduce body heat. Sometimes referred to as heat rejection.’ This sparked a flurry of questions about what theft means. But the word, of unknown origin, has been making the rounds on the internet for some time now, popular with pet owners who get excited by the sight of their dog or cat stretching their hind legs in a fun pose. Veterinarians and animal experts believe that animals adopt the posture to beat the heat by expanding their surface area to cool down. Both the word and the action have sparked interest online — although the word has yet to appear in all major dictionaries. When your correspondent, sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned desk, looked in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the answer returned nothing: “The word you entered is not in the dictionary.” Another attempt, this time in the Collins English Dictionary of Britain, produced a short entry for splooting, which it described as British English. “VERB (intransitive): (of an animal) to lie on its stomach with its hind legs extended behind the body. The entry adds, helpfully, that the origin of the word is probably 21st century slang “perhaps corrupted by splashes”. Fiona McPherson, a lexicographer at the Oxford English Dictionary, told the Washington Post on Friday:Sploot is a comparatively recent coinage’ and has not yet been included in the famous dictionary, although it ‘tracks’ the word. “Etymologically, it may be a variant of splat, but I have also seen proposals that are a mixture splay and I run,” he wrote in an email. “It’s been quite closely associated with dogs, mainly corgis,” but it can apply to most prey animals. McPherson, senior word editor responsible for adding “amazeballs” to the dictionary, said the act may have become more noticeable in the recent warm weather many are experiencing, and the word has probably gained popularity among Internet meme culture. Vocalist John Harris said that while several Internet sources have suggested that the word came from “split” or “splat”, he considers it “unlikely” because “there are no regular sound changes in English that would lead you from either of those words in sploot.” However, the emeritus professor of linguistics at University College London thought it might instead be a portmanteau involving the first part of “splay” and the last part of “cute”. A mayor in England is fighting for his office. It’s also a pony. The tweet from the parks agency in New York, where temperatures have soared this summer, prompted others to share online images of their pets being pillaged. “Squirrels that steal are adorable,” one person tweeted in response. Someone else wrote: “Error!! I love that word.. thank you!” According to the Gilbertsville Veterinary Hospital about 40 miles northeast of Philadelphia, some animals can exhibit a variety of prey positions depending on their flexibility. The “Classic Sploot,” he says on his website, is where one leg stays under the body while the other leg kicks back. In the “Side Sploot”, one leg is tucked under the body while the other kicks out to the side. Then there’s the “Full Sploot,” in which the animals kick both legs behind the body, presenting a full-body stretch. Splooting can be good for the animals’ muscles and hips as part of a stretch, he adds, and the pose also lets them cool down by pressing their bellies against cold surfaces. We asked Emmanuel, the Emu disrupting TikTok about his sudden fame In the U.K., the phenomenon is better known as “pancake,” squirrel expert Natalia Doran told The Post. “But we’re talking about the same body position. We see it all the time in our rescue squirrels,” he said. Doran runs Urban Squirrels, a London-based rescue and advocacy group that helps injured and orphaned squirrels. “That really eagle position isn’t a concern — they’re just cooling off,” he said. “As lethargic and motionless as they look, they are fine.” Conversely, if a squirrel appears to be motionless and on its side, that could indicate it’s not well, and if it’s curled up in a tight ball position, it could be cold, Doran added. While the spool position may be a “cute” way for the squirrels to cool off, he warned that in the long term, climate change is a serious concern and could harm the species in Britain and elsewhere. Extreme drought grips Europe, intensifying heat and fueling wildfires Jackie Foott of the British Red Squirrel Forum, which works to conserve the minority breed, agreed that the pose is a common sight between the species and other animals. “All animals will do it. They will go to a shady place and lie down,” he told The Post. “The obvious thing is that they increase their body surface area so that excess heat can be dissipated.” The majority of squirrels in New York City parks are eastern gray squirrels. Mostly active during the day, they can be seen snapping and scrambling for nuts, seeds and berries, using their excellent sense of smell. The mammals can grow between nine and 12 inches in length and weigh about 20 ounces. They usually inhabit a “dry”, a kind of nest made of leaves. They live in small family groups and live about three to five years in the city or up to 10 years in rural areas. Predation can also occur among young birds, according to the New York Park Service, such as the “juvenile red-tailed hawk,” which is known to exhibit “full sponging at times.” “However, birds usually do not lie down as it leaves them vulnerable,” he added. “Instead, they will perch and fluff their feathers and stretch their wings to allow the air to flow and cool.” The US National Park Service also reported that the warm weather has ushered in “Sploot Season” and encouraged its four-legged inhabitants this summer to “Splot like nobody’s watching.”
