If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, you’ve probably noticed that there’s a bumper crop of acorns this year.
And I mean LOTS of acorns!!!
To satisfy my curiosity as to why this is occurring, I did a little research. 😉
There seem to be several theories, including:
1. It will be a very snowy winter, so squirrels will need extra food.
2. It will be a mild winter, so squirrels are not gathering with any sense of urgency. If they were worried about food, they’d be snagging the acorns even before they fell to the ground.
3. The trees are in stress from drought, insects, or disease and are producing more acorns to ensure their eventual replacement.
4. It’s a repeating cycle – oaks periodically have years with plentiful acorn production to keep the animal population in balance.
The 4th one is complicated because, according to what I’ve read, it takes a few years for the cycle to unfold.
First year: Lots of acorns, so squirrels have plenty of food and thus have more offspring the next year.
That next year: There are more squirrels, so their predators have more food (poor squirrels!) and the predators multiply.
The year after that: There are less squirrels and so the predator population decreases too – part of nature’s plan.
After reading all of this, I’m still not sure which theory is correct.
I do know one thing – the acorns are taking over our yard!
What about in your neck of the woods?
Hope your weekend is full of sunshine, crisp autumn air, and things you like to do!
See ya Monday 🙂
Oh Baby….number 1 is DEFINITELY the right answer!!! 😉
Oh, I hear you Crystal. Those acorns have been crunching under my feet for weeks. The worst is when they fall all over the lawn. The mower doesn’t pick them up, so we have to gingerly rake them out without pulling up the newly seeded spots. It seems the grubs had a party this year. There was a bumper crop of them as well!
Have a fun fall day, Sweetie Pie!
xoxo Paulette 😉
Oh yeah – the acorn season is here! Crunch, crunch, everywhere I walk. We had such a hot summer, I’m afraid that the winter will be b-a-d! Get your generator ready!
HI Crissie
Well, it looks like all those theories have covered ALL the bases!! Our corns started falling in July…way early. But my babies still love my peanut butter sandwiches!!
Have a great weekend.
This year it’s acorns. Last year it was pine cones. We could barely see the grass. I think all things fall in cycles. Enjoy the sunny crisp air this weekend!
Not only acorns but the sweet gum trees made an abundance of all those balls and they hurt if you step on them barefoot. I have no idea which theory is correct, but we are not suffering from a loss of squirrels here.
I will HAPPILY trade your acorns for my black walnut tree. Those suckers are HUGE, and they don’t go away. Basically I have to pick them all up or my lawnmower will be a martyr for the cause!
Wow,i never even thought of trying to mow the lawn with acorns in the grass..yikes!
I like all of the theories..thanks for doing the research 🙂
We only have our berry bushes going wild..i think they will have a good crop again starting next Spring.
If you read “The trees in my forest” by Bernd Heinrich he talks a lot about this. It’s a beautiful book.
I hadn’t really thought about it so I guess there must not be an overabundance of acorns here. I have been enjoying stomping on empty acorn hats in the parking lot outside of work (they make such a satisfying crunch!), so maybe our squirrels are keeping up with the acorns pretty well.