A squirrel who is apparently in the grip of a fainting fit has stolen the hearts – and piqued the curiosity – of internet users.

 

A minute-long clip shows a black squirrel standing and and nibbling a nut. It then suddenly freezes and falls to the ground for several seconds.

 

Then, just as inexplicably, the adorable rodent stands back up and starts chewing again, before again tipping over. And again. And again.

 

The video has spread across the internet, with commenters on various forums speculating as to what could be behind the showing the squirrel’s bizarre behaviour.

 

Theories have ranged from narcolepsy to heart problems, drunkenness caused by eating fermented food, brain damage, or even a nut allergy.

 

The clip was originally uploaded to YouTube on November 25 by Honor Via with no additional information about where it was taken.

 

 

 

 

 

It has already been viewed nearly 500,000 times on the video sharing website.

 

‘Hope he stays out of trees till he’s better,’ one sympathetic commenter wrote.