According to a recent article in The New York Times, squirrels are probably smarter than rottweilers (or at least Republicans). Many people, including fancy-pants "scientists," agree.

Seriously, though, squirrels can be pretty awesome. They love nuts (like your mom), are very furry (like ... never mind) and have been known to wait for the light to change before crossing the street.

Times writer Natalie Angier notes, "In the acuity of their visual system, the sensitivity and deftness with which they can manipulate objects, their sociability, chattiness and willingness to deceive, squirrels turn out to be surprisingly similar to primates." (We're not bright enough to understand most of that sentence, but we think it means that humans evolved from squirrels. That would explain a lot, especially hippies.)

That said, we've known for quite some time that there are plenty of brilliant and talented squirrels out there. Keep reading to check out some of our favorites, which should amuse your squirrel-level brain to no end.

Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel
We didn't make this up: Twiggy is almost as famous as the supermodel someone probably stole the critter's name from. The baby squirrel made a name for herself in 1979 after an appearance on "Good Morning America" and never looked back. She's still around, performing every year and was recently spotted at a show in Atlantic City.



Nuts, the Photo-Bombing Squirrel
The very definition of an Internet meme, this Ted Kaczynski of photography popped up in a vacation photo taken on Melissa Brandts's camera, and he's never been able to live down his early modeling success.



The Carlsberg Sports Drink Squirrel
In honor of World Cup fever, we trotted out this gem of a beverage commercial from overseas. The Carlsberg squirrel should really have been recruited by Argentina. If so, they might not have had their tails handed to them by Germany.



Chisholm's Piano-Playing Squirrel
 A backyard squirrel in Chisholm, Minn., became an FM radio sensation last summer when she was discovered playing a tiny piano. However, you'll be pleased to hear that the still-unnamed beast hasn't let success get to her tiny head. As her manager says, "She still plays for peanuts."




The Obstacle Course Squirrel. We have no idea where this gold-medal-worthy gymnast of a squirrel got its training. Maybe it grew up among bizarrely small Romanian girls and mimicked their strange acrobatics. Either way, this video proves the Times was right (for once): Squirrels are smarter than we give them credit for (and also Democrats).