Social media captures Southern California squirrels "splooting" in midst of sweltering heat wave

With sweltering heat still lingering over Southern California, many social media users have started capturing an adorable phenomenon sweeping across the region's squirrel population — splooting. 

Splooting, also called pancaking, is when a squirrel or animal lies flat on its stomach and spreads its legs to cool down. 

"They're just trying to keep cool in this heat like everyone else is," said one Los Angeles park-goer, who couldn't help but laugh at the silliness of the tactic.

According to wildlife experts, there's a more scientific reason behind it. 

"So, often animals do something called behavioral thermoregulation," said UC Davis biologist Dr. Daniel Karp. "Which is a super fancy way of saying they're just gonna go into the shade, or into their burrow, or some place to seek shelter from that heat."

A Reddit thread chronicled the "Squirrel Splooting Spell," with one user capturing three different squirrels keeping cool on the same roof. 

Sam Ramirez, a wildlife technician who owns Humane Pest Control, said that squirrel splooting is very common when the weather gets hot. 

"Unfortunately, they don't have AC available to them, so they're using their natural resources," Ramirez said. "It's the animals, it's us, it's everybody."

He said it's very important that resources available to squirrels and other wildlife remain natural, even when it's especially tempting to put out water. 

"We don't want to take care of them. Wildlife can take care of themselves," Ramirez said. "Wildlife are supposed to remain wild, and it's our natural instinct to want to help out. ... Let wildlife be; they know what they're doing."

He said that by leaving out food or water, it can cause animals to become dependent on people and less likely to survive in the wild.

Ramirez and other experts say that humans can help by giving them plenty of space to sploot, and create shady areas for them to rest in times of high heat.