Editing 1578: Squirrelphone

{{comic
| number    = 1578
| date      = September 16, 2015
| title     = Squirrelphone
| image     = squirrelphone.png
| titletext = After a while, the squirrel starts making that beeping noise and doesn't stop until it hops back up onto the stump.
}}

==Explanation==
"Squirrelphone" is a {{w|Compound (linguistics)|compound word}} combining "{{w|squirrel}}" and "{{w|phone}}".

In this comic, we see a squirrel pretend to be a telephone, only to bite [[Cueball]] when he tries to pick it up and use it as one. This is humorous because a living squirrel is not an appropriate creature to maintain a phone call{{Citation needed}}. This could be seen as an example of {{w|mimicry}} in nature, or parasitism where one creature gains a benefit from another.

It may be an allusion to the {{w|Tufted ground squirrel|vampire squirrel}} which was [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/11/vampire-squirrel-caught-on-camera-for-the-first-time-ever/ documented recently] that allegedly 'attacks and kills' deer.  The comic follows the absurd conclusion that the squirrel uses mimicry to 'attack and kill' humans.  Cueball may be lucky to still be alive{{Citation needed}}. Another possibility is that the squirrel thought that Cueball was trying to eat it because Cueball picked it up and put it near his mouth, so it bit Cueball in self-defense. If this is the case, then biting Cueball can be said to have worked, as Cueball did relase the squirrel, as shown in panel four. However, this fails to explain why the squirrel was imitating a phone, which would make a human more likely to pick the squirrel up, so Randall was more likely trying to reference the recent vampire squirrel documentation.

The sounds the squirrel makes correspond to the tones that the terminals make when you use the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) in the US:
*When someone else calls you and the receiver of your phone is on the hook, the phone makes loud and long "riiing riiiing" tones. This is the case in the first frame of the comic.
*When you pick the receiver up, the phone call is established and no extra noises are made.
*When no phone call is established and you pick up, a continuous humming tone is heard, meaning the service is up and you can dial someone else's number (A {{w|dial tone}}).
*If a phone is left off hook for too long, a loud {{w|Off-hook tone|howler-tone}} is played. This is to alert anyone present that the phone is off-hook. In this case, you should hang up so that you can receive calls. Once on-hook, the receiver can be picked up again to dial. Many cordless phones will also beep if left off their cradles for too long, to warn that their rechargeable batteries are getting drained.

[[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] have been used frequently in xkcd, also in [[what if]], where it has for instance been used as a cute animal to replace a drawing of something scary or unpleasant like in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ Blood Alcohol] or [http://what-if.xkcd.com/105/ Cannibalism]. So this is some twist for the cuteness factor of squirrels in xkcd.

It may also be the case that "squirrelphone" is a reference to the popular web-mail software [http://squirrelmail.org/ SquirrelMail].

The title text takes the joke further by showing the squirrel possesses another phone feature: that cordless phones need to recharge frequently, either by setting them at their cradles or by connecting them to a charger, in the case of mobile phones. When they sense the battery is low, they emit a beeping noise every few minutes. In this case, the stump is the squirrel's cradle. However, the reason that cordless phones beep when they are getting low on battery is in order to alert humans to move them to the charging cradle because the phones cannot move themselves. On the other hand, squirrels can move on their own without needing humans to pick them up,{{Citation needed}} so the squirrel likely only does it in order to trick people into picking it up, which further suggests that it is a vampire squirrel.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is approaching a stump with a squirrel perched on it. A ringing noise is coming from the squirrel's back.]
:Squirrel: Riiiiing
:Squirrel: Riiiiiing

:[Cueball has picked up the squirrel and is holding it to his left ear.]
:Cueball: Hello?

:[The squirrel bites Cueball's head.]
:Squirrel: Chomp!
:Cueball: Ow!

:[Cueball holds his hand to his cheek while the squirrel leaps away, fleeing.]
:Cueball: ???

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Phones]]