Aw, Nuts!

If you've read my earlier posts, you probably know that I'm not a big fan of squirrels.  They eat our corn and tomatoes, make it impossible to grow fruit trees, dig up whatever fall bulbs they can find, and leave huge piles of acorn debris on top of our stone walls which they're fond of using as dining tables.  But hardhearted as I am, even I felt a bit sorry for these critters over the winter.  They had to contend with such deep snow that they spent most of their time tail to the sky, upside down in foot-deep holes, trying to find their stash before their paws froze.  I caught one of them in the act last January, and it's hard not to root for the little guy who (spoiler alert) does, at the end, find his dinner.



Given how industrious he and his entire clan were over the winter, how many oak trees we have on our property (see earlier post on the velcro quality of their leaves), how effectively their squirrel-gps worked to locate their nuts, and how plump and well-fed they appeared once the snow melted, I was pretty sure they had found and eaten every treasure they buried.

Nope.

And how do I  know that was not the case?  Three hours weeding the garden this past Sunday most of which was spent pulling up mini-oak trees attached to all the acorns left untouched, buried at precisely the right depth to encourage germination and sprouting.  Forests of itty bitty saplings, still tethered to their original nut pod, just rooted enough to be unyielding to a careless tug.  And tenacious enough to regrow if you accidentally decapitate them rather than haul them out intact. 


Mini-oak; one of gazillions left behind

I found myself thinking as I yanked and tugged at these leftovers, that our squirrels certainly hadn't been raised properly.  Why hadn't their squirrel moms laid the guilt trip on them about all those starving rodents elsewhere who would be thrilled to go snowdrift-diving in this yard?  Or threatened them with losing their membership in the clean plate club?  Really, the amount of waste was astounding.

Just one of what felt like hundreds of handfuls of abandoned nuts!

It's a shame that I don't have a good recipe for acorn sprouts -- I sure had enough to feed the entire neighborhood.

In other critter news: the duck watch continues.  Her eggs will take between 26-28 days to incubate, so that puts the hatching sometime during the week of June 13.  She moved into her nest for good on May 18, and has left it only for a daily lunch break -- and a brief one at that.  23 hours a day she just sits there.  There's not much going on under Cousin Itt. I admire her fortitude, but don't envy her the associated boredom.   

My understanding is that she and the ducklings will leave the nest for good shortly after they all emerge, since they are one of the species of birds born eerily mature, with their eyes open, fully capable of swimming from the very beginning. Which means that if this event falls during working hours -- and with my luck it will -- there's a good chance I'll miss it altogether.  And that would really stink. 

I wonder if I could make a plea for Mallard Maternity leave.  Short of setting up a duck-cam (which would be tough considering how little light gets under Cousin Itt), that's the only way I'll be able to document the birth.  Otherwise all I'll be able to share with you is an empty nest and some hastily abandoned eggshells.

I have three weeks to figure it out.  Any suggestions?