Did you know that squirrels lose 74% of the nuts they bury?
In Chile, we don't usually interact with these animals, so I was surprised to learn about the sophisticated relationship squirrels have with their food reserves.
As you might already know, squirrels love seeds. Whether they are nuts or acorns, these rodents spend much of their time collecting their food. The seeds they don't eat, they bury underground for later, but did you know that they categorize them into more or less valuable seeds?
Not only that, squirrels also dig holes in which they don't bury anything, to throw other squirrels off the scent and prevent them from stealing their food. Impressive.
But apparently squirrels' memory is not their strongest point. A study by the University of Richmond in the United States found that squirrels only manage to remember the location of about 26% of the seeds they bury. And what about the rest? Well, they're left behind.
And that's what makes them the best investors in the animal kingdom. After a while, those forgotten seeds become trees, which in turn provide this species with thousands and thousands of new acorns or nuts, multiplying that initial investment by figures that any Wall Street investor would like to see in his portfolio. Talk about generational wealth creation.
So much so that this animal is considered responsible for the reforestation of large forests in the United States. For squirrels, long-term is the key.
This bad memory of squirrels is not a bug, but a feature. It allows the species to grow at impressive rates, since their main source of food is sustained by previous generations who invested in the future.
Our nature as humans pushes us to always look for the shiniest object, but as we know, not everything that glitters is gold. Generally speaking, patience is not our best attribute, so we are constantly seeking fast returns, underestimating or even overseeing the potential risks involved.
If you want to invest like a squirrel, you must think like one. Sometimes, simply letting your investment sit may not be the most fun strategy, but if we can learn anything from these gentle rodents, it's that it's a tremendously effective plan.