As budget axes begin to fall, lines grow at airports and federal employees prepare for furlough days, one taxpayer-funded project has emerged unscathed: the robosquirrel, a $325,000 experimental biorobotic animal, which will continue to receive its funding from the National Science Foundation as scheduled.

The robosquirrel’s funding is enough to pay for 112 furlough days, according to an estimate by Sen. Tom Coburn’s office, which calculated each furlough at $2,900.