They also cast thousands of these
In the fall it's a constant symphony of sounds as they hit the lawn, rooftops, car and driveway. Plop, thud, ping, thunk.
Which in turn, attracts way too many of these
At times, I have seen up to 10 of these over-sized furry rodents scrambling around eating their fill and trying to bury the rest of this sudden abundance of food. Digging holes in the lawn, flower beds, containers, window boxes, anyplace they can dig a hole they will, to bury what they can for the coming winter months. And all winter long they crawl out of their nests that they built in these oak trees, out of oak leaves, and dig through the snow to get to the acorns that they had so painstakingly buried just a few months before.
But they never find them all so in the spring and all summer long these pop up, sometimes in the strangest of places
And if left un-pulled or un-mowed, they will eventually grow big enough to produce their own acorns, enough to attract all the squirrels in the city, the county, maybe even the whole state, to my backyard. Lucky me.
9 comments:
I love acorns, they are sooo cute, and we do get squirrels. Lots of them. Someone nearby feeds them peanuts, which they like to bury in all my pots. And I think the squirrels wait until a plant is in bloom, and then bury the peanut. They have ruined so many good perenials lately, and my peanuts don't sprout. But I have had quite a few hazelnut trees growing in odd places.
Jen
Jen,
One spring I noticed a different type of weed/plant growing in one of my beds. I usually let these grow for a while hoping that some exotic and gorgeous plant seed managed to find it's way to my garden. After about a month this new shoot was about a foot tall, gangly and downright ugly so I pulled it out. There on the bottom was a double peanut in the shell. I tried to replant it but that didn't work so I never did end up with a bag of peanuts in the shell lol. But I have ended up with a whole container of new little plants spilled out onto the ground so the squirrels could use it for their food stash.
Yes, lucky you! I know they can be destructive, but oh how much fun they are to watch. We used to have the bigger red squirrels in town, but now they smaller gray ones have taken over. Ours seem to leave my plants alone which is probably why I don't mind them. Sorry, I don't have any advice for you on how to deal with them. :)
Beckie,
They are fun to watch. Especially the young ones, wrestling with each other, jumping on top of one another and rolling on the ground. I did try to get a picture of that but couldn't get close enough. But all that entertainment doesn't help me much when I go outside and see all my poor little plants strewn all over the place. I have tried sprays, screening, and everything else I could think of but nothing works for long. I know that as long as the oak trees are here, the squirrels will be here, too.
flydragon-We have those little oak shoots everywhere too! Luckily, I don't have to fight with the squirrels too much. I guess you got my share of them! Sorry!!!!
Hmmm... all of these are reasons why I nixed my husband's idea to plant an oak tree in our yard. ("Request denied!") I try to avoid attracting squirrels and other small furry creatures into our fenced yard where they might run afoul of the dogs. (My previous dog was an expert squirrel catcher/serial killer - not good!)
Susie,
Somehow I don't think you're really all that sorry that I got all your squirrels.
D_G,
I had a little yorkie once and he was a great mouse catcher/killer. That was fine with me!! I never saw him catch anything else though, which was good.
I remember that dog. Didn't his name change from Jigs to Gums? Dad told us one day that the dog ran away. I think someone packed his bags and helped him out the door. Hehehehehe
Fl Brat
Fla Brat,
I prefer to think he just decided to on an adventure to see the world.
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