Where Did All the Acorns Go?
December 2, 2008 · Print This Article
If you see a bunch of skinny squirrels with a crazy look in their eyes running around, there’s a good reason for it. The poor little critters are starving this year as a result of a bizarre lack of acorns all across North America. Botanists have been surprised to find that trees haven’t produced acorns and nuts this year, from Virginia all the way to Nova Scotia. Squirrels who depend upon the protein and fat-rich nuts are invading trash cans, inhaling bird food and boring their way into pumpkins to steal the seeds.
From MSNBC:
“I’m used to seeing so many acorns around and out in the field, it’s something I just didn’t believe,” he said. “But this is not just not a good year for oaks. It’s a zero year. There’s zero production. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
The absence of acorns could have something to do with the weather, Simmons thought. But he hoped it wasn’t a climatic event. “Let’s hope it’s not something ghastly going on with the natural world.”
To find out, Simmons and Arlington naturalists began calling around. A naturalist in Maryland found no acorns on an Audubon nature walk there. Ditto for Fairfax, Falls Church, Charles County, even as far away as Pennsylvania. There are no acorns falling from the majestic oaks in Arlington National Cemetery.
“Once I started paying attention, I couldn’t find any acorns anywhere. Not from white oaks, red oaks or black oaks, and this was supposed to be their big year,” said Greg Zell, a naturalist at Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington. “We’re talking zero. Not a single acorn. It’s really bizarre.”
Experts say many animals will starve this year, as reports of missing acorns flow in from the Midwest, New England and Canada. Some believe an unusually rainy spring is to blame, with wetness washing pollen down storm drains and into the soil before it got a chance to do its work. Others say that’s unlikely, so no one really knows for sure.
So, if you catch squirrels frantically digging up your tulip bulbs before winter truly sets in, perhaps some sympathy is in order. Leave out some unsalted peanuts as a treat to help them get through the season, so they don’t have to resort to wild acrobatics to get to your bird feeder.
Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user altereye1
Related Posts:
The Grizzly: Enemy of Man!Scotland Building a 300ft Bridge for Squirrels to Cross Traffic
Dumped Corpses Give Sharks a Taste for Human Flesh
Should We Adapt Our Diets to Eat Overpopulated Species?
Gay Penguin Couple Ostracized for Stealing Eggs, Replacing Them with Stones
The acorns have gone to California. This year was a bumper crop year for acorns at my parents place near Sacramento Ca. Up the valley a little way in Chico Ca (Where I live) acorns seem to be about the same as usual.
Its a really small sample size, two town, one researcher, totally guesstimated numbers. But I’m not seeing an acorn shortage here in California. I wonder what’s making the difference.