Sciurus carolinensis

Tree

Here's a pic of our homegirl.  Not exactly the pic I wanted to capture, as she usually is facing directly at the window.  This is taken through a double glazed window with the cloud covered sun behind her.

Yes, her, she is a nursing female and the boss of the local squirrel scurry.

The winter of 2018-2019 was a tough one for squirrels.  It was an off year for mast-the oaks dropped no acorns, and the same for the beech.  I got tired of the squirrels hogging all the bird feeders, so I started supplementing small piles of cracked corn spaced out along the hill path to the goats.

There was at least a dozen squirrels that came on a daily basis, usually showing up around 10:30 am  We even had a color mutation we named "Goldie" she had an absence of black coloration and was tawny and white.

My neighbors were not happy with the desperate squirrels-both known to shoot anything that encroaches on their rural properties, and I beeged both groups to "spare Goldie" if they went on a rampage.

I have not seen "Goldie" for over a year, whether she fell victim to a bullet or a bird of prey is unknown.  There is also the possibility that she saw no need to leave her territory last winter,(she was always one of the late arrivals the previous winter) as it was a crackerjack year for both acorns and beechnuts.

I know because I picked up several gallons off the goat path and left them by the back door, playing with the idea of turning them into acorn meal and attempting acorn pancakes.  It is quite a process of soaking, cracking, and shelling and drying and grinding, and I never got around to it.

The few squirrels that showed up in the back yard this winter thought that was the best acorn stash ever and ate most of the bucket.

I wish they had scrounged a little more through the asparagus and perennial beds out back since it took several days of raking and handpicking  MORE acorns unless I wanted to be pulling oak seedlings later in the year.  The ground was literally carpeted with them.

I had intended to use those leaves for garden mulch, but due to the massive amount of acorns I dumped them along the property line at the edge of the woodland.

One year I played with the idea of selling red oak seedlings, and potted up quite a few of them.  I gave some away and kept a few for a potential bonsai project.

We will have to see if acorn production is impacted by weather or is cyclical.  I have heard the term "off year" for fruiting trees-whether that is just the habit of the tree to fruit every other year, or if it depends on the type of weather during flowering season I am unsure.

One thing I am pretty sure on- we won't have a ton of maple keys, or seeds later.  We had that huge wet snow just as the red flower buds were swelling, and it has been cold and wet most of the month-not good conditions for pollination.

I have my beehives set as a swarm trap, but we have yet to see any honeybees.  One sure way I determine how local colonies overwintered is when the pussywillow buds mature, as honeybees cherish that as a pollen source and the small trees are low enough to the ground to inspect visually.

We have seen on or two tri colored bumblebees (Bombus ternarius) already this spring, and I expect to see the first hummingbirds any day.