Don't stress over splooting squirrels! It's a warning that bears repeating.
If you see a squirrel laying flat on its tummy with its little limbs outstretched, the squirrel is likely just "splooting". Squirrels and many other animals sploot to stay cool in the heat, because laying flat helps them to maximize body contact with cooler surfaces and conserve energy.
A recent tweet by the parks agency informed us that "If you see a squirrel lying down like this, don't worry; it's just fine." it then goes on to say that "on hot days, squirrels keep cool by splooting (stretching out) on cool surfaces to reduce body heat. It is sometimes referred to as heat dumping."
I've actually seen my cat do this before, and never knew what it was up to until now.
