---
title: 'Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0 - The Walnut Heist'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=DTvS9lvRxZ8'
video_id: 'DTvS9lvRxZ8'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 1001
---

# Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0 - The Walnut Heist

> Source: [Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0 - The Walnut Heist](https://youtube.com/watch?v=DTvS9lvRxZ8)

## Summary

The video documents the creator's elaborate nine-part obstacle course designed to protect birdseed from squirrels, featuring a casino, slot machine, laser maze, and vault. It shows four named squirrels attempting the course with clever strategies and adaptations, culminating in a successful walnut heist.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the Maze** [00:00] — The creator surrounds his yard with an obstacle course to test squirrels' mental limits and protect birdseed.
- **Fort Knuts Vault** [01:05] — The bird feeder sits atop 'Fort Knuts,' a walnut-filled vault at the end of the course.
- **Casino First Challenge** [01:33] — The course begins with a casino that serves as the single gateway for squirrels.
- **Slot Machine and Twist Bar** [02:40] — Squirrels encounter a slot machine requiring them to take only an ounce, or face a nap. A twist bar adds difficulty.
- **Helicopter Baffle** [03:07] — A moving helicopter baffle and walls that randomly adjust challenge the squirrels to stay on course.
- **Hideout with Blueprints** [03:34] — A hideout with blueprints shows the elevator shaft leading underground to the control center.
- **Keyboard and Air Vents** [04:12] — Squirrels must access a keyboard in the control room and navigate a maze of air vents.
- **Laser Maze** [04:26] — A laser maze triggers a door that slams shut for one minute if touched.
- **Fort Knuts Safe** [04:56] — The final challenge is cracking a safe to earn walnuts. If they succeed, they've earned it.
- **First Squirrel Encounter** [05:22] — Rick the squirrel immediately gets caught by the buffet challenge, falling in slow motion.
- **Squirrel Names and Roles** [05:48] — Four squirrels: Phat Gus (mastermind), Rick (acrobat), Marty (hacker), Frank (logistics).
- **Rick's Athletic Abilities** [06:42] — Rick is the acrobat, using athletic abilities to navigate the course.
- **Marty at the Casino** [07:13] — Marty the hacker approaches the casino and goes straight to the twist bar.
- **Frank's Back Door Attempt** [08:12] — Frank tries sneaking in the back door but gets forced to retreat.
- **Squirrel Flight Physics** [08:44] — Squirrels can survive falls from any height due to flat body parachute and ability to lock their heads.
- **Phat Gus on Helicopter** [09:25] — Phat Gus rides the helicopter and pulls his parachute, demonstrating the ride is worth it.
- **Other Course Attempts** [10:09] — Other animals like a chipmunk and opossum attempt the course, and squirrels steal nesting materials from each other.
- **Hideout and Elevator** [11:03] — The squirrels use a hideout with a ladder, and critical tools drop down, recreating an iconic scene.
- **One-Way Doors** [12:10] — One-way doors function as intended, with Phat Gus confidently stepping through.
- **Maze Confusion** [13:24] — Frank helps Marty navigate the maze, while Phat Gus supervises.
- **Squirrel Landing Techniques** [14:03] — Squirrels use head locking, angular momentum, and flat body parachute to land safely, evolved over 30 million years.
- **Phat Gus Reaches Vault** [15:10] — Phat Gus is the first to reach and crack the safe, falling for decoy nuts.
- **Marty Cracks the Safe** [15:40] — Marty the hacker successfully cracks the safe, opening cargo nets.
- **Squirrels Go Back Through Course** [16:12] — After winning, squirrels often go back through the entire course even with the system off, burying nuts.

### Conclusion

The squirrels successfully heist the walnuts, demonstrating remarkable problem-solving skills and adaptability, while the creator admires their persistence and cleverness.

## Transcript

surrounding me in my yard is an attempt to protect it If they want the birdseed and the lifetime supply to pass through my nine-part obstacle course.
It's meant to test their mental limits I held back no punches, but I have to admit, in hindsight, And truthfully, I never thought I'd be that crazy guy
constantly pillage the birdseed That led to me defending it with an obstacle course, on how to avenge that L with a majorly improved version
got together for a 20-second build montage. (tools whirring)
(nuts clattering) For starters, here's their favorite bird feeder, at the end of the course, and it's sitting atop Fort Knuts,
Now since birds can fly, they can come and go but the only way for the squirrels to make it right here which all starts right here.
is the single gateway to enter the course. to keep the squirrel from just climbing up And so the first challenge is this casino,
until you realize that as we were building the course, So we put them up in a couple different trees made some renovations, so I went to take a closer look
Even on the inside, So while it might look like they were just using the houses to relax, or stretch, or look out the window, or wrestle,
and the mini vault to practice cracking a safe This gang of four high-end professional birdseed thieves an honest to goodness "Mission: Impossible,"
which is why I was gonna protect with the most state-of-the-art security measures So once in the casino, you'll see the slot machine
take more than an ounce, you're gonna nap to deal with security. but there's a twist.
but if they can figure this out, with their favorite food, which is walnuts, and they always went with the walnuts first.
to the system, the helicopter starts moving Oh, and we've got a baffle here at the top The helicopter stops next to this wall,
randomly move and adjust themselves in and out. And of course, at any time, if they fall off, After that, we come to their hideout,
because it's where they hang out and plan. and their blueprints on the wall that show the elevator shaft leads them underground
it will take them right to the control center And just like in "Mission: Impossible," to access the air vents, but there's no way
into the keyboard in the control room next door, like this. (motor whirring)
and they're in the vents, and the vents are a total maze. So at any moment, if they're too lost, by using the one-way squirrel emergency exit,
And for the penultimate challenge, through this laser maze, where they'll have to harness If they sufficiently touch any of the lasers,
which sends a signal from this microcontroller to a relay which slams this door shut for one minute. on top of this tube, I've placed a shield here
And so finally, if they've made it through the laser maze they've made it to Fort Knuts, and as far as I'm concerned, if they crack the safe by giving this handle a little turn,
they've earned every last walnut in this bank. they could definitely smell the walnuts in the vault And so after two months of prep work,
against this formidable set of 500-gram rodents. And right out of the gate, we got him with the buffet.
absentmindedly reading the sign, he might have screwed up.
And the slow-mo shows Rick just really laying himself out. All four squirrels have names, and more importantly, they all have specific roles to play,
who of course is the mastermind of this operation. of the Frank Ocean or an Ethan Hunt. last year I named one of the squirrels Phat Gus
but then halfway through, I noticed he had nipples, and a pregnant one at that, and I switched the name to Phantastic Gus
but to be honest, Phantastic Gus just doesn't to use my preferred phrasing and as you can see, He's the acrobat, the grease man, the gutsy one.
that is gonna require some athletic abilities. Anything with computers or bank safes, and he's your guy, And finally, we've got Frank with logistics.
He's got the whole course memorized And so back to the course, we've got Marty the hacker here, But who can resist a buffet?
Once again, the real magic is found in the slow-mo. at this casino, and Rick goes straight to the twist bar.
(light music) he's like, "I got this, I got this, I got this.
The real time replay on this one is great too. "I'm gonna get that crate of walnuts. Which turns out somewhat predictably.
(light music) tries a totally different route.
I gave this a 9.5, but sorry Rick, Logistics man Frank knows the wire connected to the fence sneaking in the back door and is also forced to retreat.
if you're just scared and you run real fast, and you can see Rick just replicating the strategy. through the first part of this course about this fast,
and Fort Knuts was already feeling less and less secure. Phat Gus is like, "Wait, is this thing moving? I'm good." it won't move, and here he rejects that hypothesis
to remind ourselves that squirrels a fall from any height, because as you can see here, effectively becoming their own parachute.
"Yep. All good." And Marty the hacker fraidy cat is just like, "Yeah, I am super not down with this."
who demonstrates the ride is definitely worth it. and the rest of the gang following suit, And first up, you got Phat Gus, who kicks things right off
with a pull of his parachute. And Rick just barely misses. and absolutely yeets himself into this tree.
causing them to start over from the beginning, in the anticipation that a brick might move, for any of these clips.
(light music) eventually, like all the other challenges so far, where they could cruise by the wall fairly quickly.
the squirrels weren't the only ones attempting the course. He liked to make the rounds to all the houses each night, There goes frank to chase him off his lawn.
The squirrels would gather nesting materials just steal from each other. for all the Phat Gus fans out there.
to not at all creepy possums. that passes through a suburban backyard, is much less interested in squirrels
back to the squirrel hideout, ("Mission: Impossible" theme)
("Mission: Impossible" theme continues)
and lowered the ladder, Phat Gus followed behind a critical tool dropped down, which led to a lovely recreation of an iconic scene.
("Mission: Impossible" theme)
and they functioned as a one-way door exactly as intended. You can see here he's just double checking and once he's satisfied, he steps up,
You can just sense his confidence here. Contrast that with Marty, who's like, "All right, I think it was a right, no, it was straight.
Oh, was it Left? Crap, I gotta go check the map again," would end up looking something like this. And you can see Marty's a little defensive about it.
So Frank hops in so they can work out their differences, he gets him going down the right way. All the while, Phat Gus continues to supervise.
(light music) Here's acrobat Rick's first approach And just as expected, he climbs on top of the tube
and he's like, "Yeah, I totally got this," when in fact, he didn't have it. In real time, it happens so fast, it just looks like chaos.
we can remind ourselves of how squirrels Did you catch it? on a landing target in less than 300 milliseconds.
that locking of their head is the first thing is using conservation of angular momentum in and out at the right times to rotate fast
Combine those two tricks with the flat body parachute to absorb the shock, and they're perfectly adapted for over 30 million years and they've had to evolve
So then Rick's like, "Fine, I'll use the stupid tube See, I knew this was suss."
and therefore is appropriately cautious. and this time he nails it.
that the Mastermind Phat Gus was the first one and then to subsequently make it to Fort Knuts. Falling not just for one decoy nut,
for Marty the hacker to be the one to crack the safe, (light music)
"Yep, mm-hmm, yep. This is just like the schematic showed," (nuts clattering)
once the safe opened, these cargo nets unfurled, But interestingly, more often than not, they would go all the way back through the course.
even though I'd already turned off the whole system. but as far as I'm concerned, they earned it, 'cause Rick buried all his extra nuts in the yard,
and Phat Gus got some long sought quality time Well, almost everyone. (bird chirping)