The heat is making squirrels 'sploot' — a goofy act that signals something serious

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/ [login to see] /squirrels-splooting-heat-wave-climate-change
Who are they? Squirrels. As climate change is making extreme heat events more common, these bright-eyed and bushy-tailed critters are "splooting" to cope.

Splooting is behavior some animals use to cool their body temperature. Squirrels are finding cool surfaces and lying on their stomachs, legs spread, to cool off.
Think of it like finding the cool side of the pillow when you're trying to fall asleep. Sunny Corrao of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation says it's about transferring the heat away from their bodies:
"They're trying to find a cool space, and if they can put as much of their core body on to a cool space, then the heat is going to transfer from their bodies to the other surface. So in the case of squirrels, you'll often see them maybe on a shady sidewalk, or a park path, or in the grass, just splayed out."