Male squirrels 'spend all day loafing and basking in the sun while females do all the work'

Male Artic squirrels in Alaska do nothing but 'loaf or bask in the sun' while females do all the work, a study has found.

Whilst the women busied themselves harvesting nuts and looking after the babies, the men rarely left their burrows all day.

When males did venture above ground it was to 'rewarm' themselves having been indoors the whole time.

Researchers from Northern Arizona University put tracking collars on about 50 Arctic squirrels in Alaska.

On average the females were above ground three to six hours fewer each day - but while up there they were significantly more active.

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They had to get everything done - harvest the food, watch out for predators and so on - with far less time than the males.

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The women busied themselves harvesting nuts and looking after young

The study said: "It is not clear what (males) are doing while above ground ... it is possible that time above ground serves some sort of social function, such as the establishment and/or persistence of territories.

"The additional time spent above ground may be simply to loaf or bask in the sun.

"In small mammals, basking behaviour has been commonly reported as a means of passive rewarming from torpor."

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One possible reason why the males were so inactive is that during the period of the study the females were making milk to feed their young and needed to eat more.

The study said that males were using "risk-aversive behaviours" to avoid being attacked by a predator, even if it meant putting the women in danger more.

To carry out the study the researchers put photosensitive collars on 30 female and 18 male squirrels and used carrot traps to attract them.

But in another gender divide the male squirrels did not even like this part.

Lead researcher Cory Williams, of Northern Arizona University, said: "They're very, very squirmy, especially the juveniles because they're so small. The males will even bite sometimes.

"These squirrels are a lot feistier than other species commonly used for research".