Comments on: Acorn Plot

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:13:25 +0000

Monday, September 14, 2009:
This morning during my walk to work I noticed that the acorn crop in Schenley Park is HUGE this year. There are so many acorns falling from the trees on Bartlett Street that the cars are crushing them into a dust that fills the gutter.

By: Doug Bauman

Doug Bauman — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:39:06 +0000

Some Oaks drop acorns only every two years. And somehow they synchronize themselves. That’s why the loss of the American Chestnut tree to the blight was such a bad thing for wildlife.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:25:31 +0000

Odd. I was just in DC right before Thanksgiving and I counted 14 fat squirrels in the park near the Capitol. They were busily munching on something, so if no acorns I think they’ll be OK.

Dawn, I grew up on an acre’s worth of shagbark hickory trees. Trust me, squirrels can eat those nuts. And they’ll throw the shells at you if you get too close during courting season. It wasn’t safe to go out into our yard without a helmet during certain months of the year!

By: Marjorie

Marjorie — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:20:22 +0000

That’s an interesting bit of news…when I first moved out of the suburbs to Armstrong Co. I did not see any squirrels (quite a few chipmunks) for the first 3 years. Last spring we saw 1 and this winter we’ve had one that never goes near the slinky feeder with peanuts in shells, but sits in a small clear plastic feeder with a dome on top. Funny to watch it sit with its tail and half its butt hanging out. This one seems to like seeds!!! (Or is it because there are no acorns around?! Hmmm.) Saw a black squirrel up in Canada — neat-looking.

By: Dawn Fine

Dawn Fine — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:33:13 +0000

Poor squirrels. We have literally tons of hickory nuts here in NC this year in my sisters yard. I mean a banner crop…I think your squirrels should head this direction…though i dont know if the shell is too hard for them to crack.

By: Lauren Conkle

Lauren Conkle — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:09:10 +0000

Hi Kate,

I live in Washington County, Pa., and I have three semi-mature pin oak trees in my backyard. Normally, I have to sweep tons of acorns off my patio every day once the nearest tree begins to drop them. My house is situated on a fairly steep hill, so I have to be careful walking around out there in the fall because it’s like trying to walk on a floor covered with marbles! Not so this year. Only leaves littered my patio and yard every day. I missed watching the squirrels sneak onto the patio to gather acorns this fall. There simply aren’t any acorns out there to gather. I hope my squirrels won’t starve. I would be more than willing to put up with sweeping every day if I could get the squirrels back. I have red-tail and Cooper’s hawks in my neighborhood, so I hope they will be OK this winter. I wonder how much they depend on squirrels for prey.