As the saying goes, some people are born with silver spoons in their mouths. The same goes for at least one species of the animal world, according to research done in part by the University of Alberta.

A study of female red squirrels in Kluane, Yukon, revealed that advantageous ‘silver spoon’ factors such as food availability and spring temperature experienced between birth and weaning could reflect later on each squirrel’s lifetime fitness, longevity and reproductive success.

researchers discovered that female babies born into fortunate circumstances with more food, warmer spring weather and a lower population, experienced long-lasting positive effects on reproductive success, producing more offspring over the remainder of their lives.

In contrast, squirrels born into rougher circumstances with less food and bitter weather didn’t live as long and tended to wean fewer young when they were alive.

those having the bad luck of being born in a bad year may never get a taste of that

spoon