Portia’s wiggling backside and laser like gaze brought our attention to the current sport of squirrels – burying nuts in our lawn. Silly little buggers, how on earth will they find them again when there’s several feet of snow outside our front door?
This last week we’ve had rather balmy temperatures and a wonderful sunny sky. Doesn’t feel like the great white out is on its way yet but time does march on and the seasons will change.
Current temperature 59F/15C
I read somewhere that squirrels recover 1/3-1/2 of the nuts they bury. This works just fine for the trees, but it’s really annoying to be digging saplings out of my lawn every spring.
I tried finding some data on squirrels’ retrieval rates, and while I couldn’t find anything concrete, the consensus seemed to be that they leave enough behind to play an important role in the dispersal of trees.
What I did discover, though, was the amazing sport of Squirrel fishing. There’s even a club for it at the University of Oregon, complete with action shots. Officially weird.