Millions of trees grow every year because squirrels forget where they hid their snacks.

Grey squirrels are busy workers that can hide several thousand nuts in just one season. Scientists found that even though squirrels have great memories and a strong sense of smell, they still lose about 25% of their hidden food. This is actually a good thing for nature.To keep their food safe from thieves, squirrels use a trick called scatter hoarding. They spread their nuts out in hundreds of different spots across the forest. This means if another animal finds one stash, the rest of the squirrel's food is still safe. It also means the nuts are spread far apart, giving them plenty of room to grow.Research published in the journal Animal Behaviour shows that these buried nuts have a much better chance of surviving. When a nut just sits on top of the ground, it can dry out or get eaten by birds. By burying the nut, the squirrel protects it and puts it at the perfect depth in the soil to sprout.This teamwork between animals and plants has been happening for thousands of years. Squirrels help oak, hickory, and beech trees move their seeds to new places. Because of this, squirrels are often called accidental foresters because they spend their lives planting the forests of the future.