During the hot summer months, juicy watermelons are a refreshing treat that both humans and animals alike enjoy. But have you ever wondered, what animals actually eat watermelons in the wild? This comprehensive guide will provide you with the answer.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: deer, bears, raccoons, squirrels, and rabbits are some of the most common wild animals that eat watermelons.
Large Mammals That Feast on Watermelons
Deer
Deer are one of the most common large mammals that enjoy eating watermelons. These foragers use their keen sense of smell to sniff out ripe watermelons in gardens and fields. Once found, they will use their teeth and strong jaws to bite right into the melon for a sweet, juicy treat.
In fact, watermelons can make up over 50% of a deer’s summer diet in some areas where the fruit is abundant. With an adult deer consuming up to 15 pounds of vegetation per day, they can quickly decimate a watermelon patch if given the chance.
While certainly a nuisance to farmers and gardeners, deer feeding on watermelons is a natural behavior. As herbivores, deer need to consume a variety of plants, fruits and vegetables to meet their nutritional needs.
Watermelons provide deer with moisture and important nutrients like vitamins A, B6 and C, magnesium and potassium. Additionally, the sweet taste and soft flesh of watermelons is easily digested. Given the choice between watermelons or less palatable plants, these large mammals will opt for the refreshing, juicy fruits every time.
Bears
Bears are omnivorous scavengers opportunistically seeking out calorie-dense foods. When it comes to watermelons, bears can’t resist these sweet summertime treats. Using their strong claws and jaws, bears will readily tear into the tough rind of a ripening watermelon to access the soft, fleshy fruit inside.
The juicy watermelon provides hydration and important nutrients bears need to maintain their massive 300-700 pound bodies.
A bear may consume 20,000 calories a day from spring through fall to build up the fat stores needed for winter hibernation. Watermelons, which provide about 30 calories per 100 grams, are an efficient way for bears to boost their caloric intake.
Reports of bears invading watermelon patches are common in areas where bear habitats overlap with farming. Unfortunately for farmers, bears can damage many melons in their quest for the sweetest fruit. Protecting ripening watermelons with electric fencing is one method to deter hungry bears.
Moose
The largest members of the deer family, moose typically browse on twigs,leaves and aquatic vegetation. However, they will capitalize on watermelons as a readily available food source when the opportunity arises.
Despite their massive bodies weighing up to 1,800 pounds, moose can be astonishingly stealthy. Under the cover of darkness, moose will silently raid backyard gardens and agricultural fields containing ripe watermelons.
A moose can consume up to 70 pounds of vegetation daily to fuel their large bodies. Watermelons provide moisture and nutrients like vitamin C, potassium and beta carotene. The soft, palatable fruits are easy for moose to chew and digest.
Additionally, the high water content of watermelons helps moose meet their daily water intake needs. While certainly a frustration for gardeners and farmers, localized moose damage to watermelon crops is usually minimal compared to other wildlife.
Small Mammals That Love Watermelons
Raccoons
Raccoons are opportunistic omnivores that enjoy eating a variety of foods, including fruits like watermelons. These clever mammals have excellent night vision and a great sense of smell, which helps them locate ripe watermelons ready for eating.
Raccoons use their dexterous front paws to open up watermelons and scoop out the sweet, juicy flesh inside. They are able to gnaw through the hard rind of a watermelon using their sharp teeth. Urban raccoons often raid backyard gardens looking for juicy watermelons to feast on.
Foxes
Foxes are curious and intelligent omnivores that will eat watermelons when given the chance. They use their excellent sense of smell to sniff out ripening watermelons in gardens and fields. Once found, foxes will use their sharp teeth and claws to tear open the tough rind to access the sweet, watery flesh inside.
Watermelons provide foxes with hydration and important nutrients like vitamins A, C and B6. Foxes typically eat watermelons at night when these opportunistic animals come out to hunt and forage. They may return to a melon several nights in a row to eat their fill.
Squirrels
Squirrels just love finding and eating ripe, juicy watermelons! These nimble rodents use their great sense of smell to locate watermelons growing in vegetable gardens or farms. Once they find a ripe melon, squirrels will dig in with their sharp front teeth to peel back the rind and eat the sweet red flesh inside.
Squirrels will sit right on top of a watermelon to eat, often leaving behind a hollowed out rind. These clever critters seem to especially enjoy eating the black watermelon seeds as they provide protein, fat and fiber. Urban squirrels may even work together to break into a melon!
Rabbits
Rabbits are herbivores that will happily eat watermelon as part of their diet. Wild rabbits use their strong sense of smell to find ripening watermelons in gardens or farms. They use their continuously growing incisors to gnaw an entry hole through the rind to access the sweet red flesh inside.
Rabbits are attracted to watermelons as they provide hydration and essential nutrients like vitamin C, potassium and lycopene. They typically feed at dawn and dusk. Domestic rabbits may also be offered watermelon as a healthy treat – just be sure to remove the rind first as it can cause indigestion.
Birds That Eat Watermelons
Crows
Crows are extremely intelligent birds that love feasting on juicy watermelon when given the chance. In fact, research shows that crows have demonstrated problem-solving abilities rivaling great apes when it comes to obtaining food rewards like fruit (https://www.science.org/content/article/crows-possess-higher-intelligence-long-believed).
Using their sharp beaks, crows can easily puncture through a watermelon rind to enjoy the sweet, watery flesh inside.
Crows often work together to get access to fruit as well. Groups of crows have been observed carrying watermelons into the air and dropping them to split them open. This impressive cooperative behavior and social intelligence likely gives crows an edge when discovering and exploiting fruiting crops.
Blue Jays
The blue jay is a stunning songbird well known for its blue, white, and black plumage. Blue jays have a taste for fruits and nuts, including juicy watermelon. Their strong beaks allow them to crack hard shells and rinds open with ease.
Research has discovered that blue jays rely heavily on their excellent long-term memory to relocate fruiting trees and shrubs (https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10068). This likely helps them return to backyard watermelon feasts over and over.
Interestingly, blue jays have also demonstrated the ability to accurately mimic hawk calls – likely as a defense to deter predators.
Cardinals
With their bright red plumage, cardinals are a beloved and familiar backyard bird. Cardinals primarily eat seeds and insects but delight in sampling various fruits as well, including juicy watermelon. Their cone-shaped beaks may not be as robust as a crow’s or blue jay’s, but cardinals can and will nibble through watermelon rind to reach the sweet interior reward.
Research by ecologists has shown that the availability of wild fruits in forests may directly tied to cardinal nesting success rates (https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/125/3/551/5143626). This means backyard offerings of fruit treats like watermelon can greatly benefit cardinals during breeding season.
Reptiles That Eat Fallen Watermelons
Turtles
Many species of turtles, both aquatic and terrestrial, will happily munch on slices of ripe, fallen watermelon as an occasional treat. The red-eared slider turtle, one of the most common pet turtles, is particularly fond of watermelon and will eagerly gobble up offered pieces.
Watermelon provides turtles with hydration as well as important vitamins and minerals like vitamins A, C and B6.
Wild turtles that come across fallen, overripe watermelons in fields or gardens also partake. Box turtles, mud turtles like the eastern mud turtle, and semi-aquatic species like painted turtles consume dropped watermelon when they find it.
The fruit supplements their normal omnivorous diets of worms, insects, small mammals, aquatic vegetation and fallen fruits.
According to turtle conservation groups, nearly 60% of wild turtles will readily eat watermelon if they encounter it. As cold-blooded reptiles, turtles can benefit from watermelon’s high water content, especially in hot summer months when already-scarce water resources may dry up.
Lizards
Several lizard species also appreciate finding an abandoned watermelon out in nature. Water dragons may nibble on watermelon rinds, while other large lizards like Savannah monitors seem attracted to the sweet red flesh inside.
Small amounts of ripe watermelon can supplement lizards’ insect-based diets.
Since lizards lack teeth and must swallow food whole, only smaller species can eat watermelon flesh. Larger monitor lizards often just lick watermelon juice and scrape off fruit pulp. arger lizards may also eat watermelon seeds, which provide protein and fiber.
Compared to turtles, lizards are less enthusiastic watermelon consumers. But agamids like the eastern bearded dragon do accept watermelon, likely because it contains both water and beneficial nutrients often scarce in their native habitats.
Overall, lizards tend to show far less interest than turtles, suggesting ripe fallen watermelons appeal primarily to shelled reptiles.
Conclusion
As we have seen, watermelons are enjoyed by a diverse array of wildlife, from large deer to tiny rabbits. By leaving some fallen watermelons in your yard or garden, you can provide a healthy summertime snack for local animals. Just be prepared to share those juicy red treats with your wild neighbors!