That is sad. Chipmunks are cute, and they look both ways before crossing (at least in New Mexico). Squirrels are just idiot rats with a bottle brush.
my cats who I can count on one hand the times have been out side more that 10 minutes are excellent hunters
the last mouse was merely running by the screen door as I opened it door cat stuck her head and paws out and grabbed it …but she prefers playing with it rather than eating and when I finished the poor thing off and disposed of it she was rotten for a couple of days and ran trying to see where I hidden it at …
Absolutely. I once had a tom who was a mighty hunter. He would frequently leave us gifts of squirrels and squirrel parts. He once even killed a grown possum, which impress us so much that my artist husband painted it.
I think most cats would make short work of a squirrel unless the squirrel sunk it’s teeth into the cat’s flesh. Some might decide it’s not worth the trouble. I’m guessing the biggest animal a cat could kill would be a groundhog. A raccoon, for instance, could rip a cat (and a lot of dogs) to shreds.
One of the more interesting half hours of my life (40 yrs ago) was watching a 6 mo old kitten vs a 10" grass snake. Cat eventually won and was never in serious trouble. Turned into an excellent hunter. Never learned to look both ways before crossing the highway though.
Could it be that adult squirrels have learned better how to avoid cats? Or at least not be eaten by them?
My buddy’s cat used to go after squirrels a lot. One time when he had one cornered another squirrel ran up behind him and bit him on the ass. After that he decided they weren’t worth the trouble.
Years ago, we had a cat whose “trophies” included squirrels, rabbits, mice, voles, and at least one bat. We’d see him devour his prey in the back yard.
At the same time, we had a cat who aggressively hunted tree bark. She just played with her prey in the back yard.
Cats is weird.
My domesticated cat took on a squirrel and almost lost HIS tail. Really, it was a close thing.
He had better luck with rabbits, mice, and rats*. My serial killer cat.
He is now a senior cat so he will not be repeating these antics.
*everybody is very sad about the bunnies. Nobody cares that he killed rats. Hm.
I’ve personally seen it. The kicker is that the cat in question was a tiny domestic shorthair, I estimate about 3-4 pounds. Certainly nowhere near the size of the Maine Coon mentioned upthread. Aside, both my wife at the time, and my financee now, had Maine Coons when I first started dating them. Great cats, dog-like really.
Anyway, I think the cat knocked the squirrel out of the tree, broke its back somehow, and thrashed around with it before I came on the scene.
Neat cat. Seemed to really like my wife and I. Very affectionate. Unfortunately, we were tentative about whether we wanted a cat at the time, and what would our landlord say, so my idiot drunken neighbor in the other half of the duplex ended up scooping her up. I hope it turned out well.
“Say, Pixie—whatever happened to that squirrel you were chasing the other day?”
“Oh, that? Yeah, I killed him…”
<dramatic pause>
“Twice.”
I think bobcats and fox are the smallest natural predators of woodchucks (either of which would dispatch a typical domesticated cat without any trouble). The ones I’ve seen where big ole fellers who quickly made a deep burrow in the clay in my backyard under an old pile of boards. I wouldn’t want to get into a scratching fight with one of them and I can’t see a domesticated cat taking one out quickly enough that it wouldn’t become a fight. If a cat did manage to kill one, I’m betting it would be a lot more trouble than it’s worth.
Of course, now people will give their “my cat killed a woodchuck” stories 
My cat was a good ratter but ignored and even seemed to play with the squirrels. I know the feral cats in the park kill and eat the red squirrels routinely.
My cat kills and eats Red Squirrels, but has never gone after the larger and more common Black Squirrels.
Largest rodent she has taken is rats, which she also gets reasonably regularly. She kills them, but for some reason does not eat them.
Her primary prey is of course mice, though she seems to enjoy the flavor of chipmunk more. Mice she only eats selected bits of, but chipmunks - she only leaves the guts and the tail.
When I was in high school/college, I had a 6lb cat that was hunting adult jackrabbits pretty often. I had to clean up the legs that she had lined up neatly on the patio each weekend when I came home. She was a little psycho, but I assume the rabbits were dead when they had their legs removed. So, a lone squirrel shouldn’t be much of a problem for even a tiny cat.
I’ve never seen a cat actually tangle with one, but the beagle mix I had as a kid killed a few. He was a lot quicker and could avoid teeth/claws. I assume a good sized cat could do the same.
I’m told my mother in law’s small female cat once killed a ground hog. Despite the cat having been declawed. (Front paws only). That was when my husband was a child, but my mil was proud of her cat, and liked to tell the story.
My daughter’s adopted barn cat was a master hunter. He specialized in smaller animals like snakes, chipmunks and smaller birds but he did take out more than one squirrel and a few rabbits and won the ultimate contest. He did have his limits though.
The funniest was the wild turkeys wandering around that were many times his size. He couldn’t reconcile the fact that birds could be that large and he made running plays on them only to get his ass kicked every time. I didn’t have much sympathy for him.
Bubby simply disappeared one day without a trace. I personally think he probably made a poor decision to try to take on one of the coyotes or foxes that come around the edge of the property. He was tough but not that tough.