Not many, if any, out my way in the Eastern Panhandle of WV. But a stroll through the comments section attached to the Post article finds both agreement and disagreement. Like this:
AbeTolemahcs wrote: This story is nuts. If acorns have disappeared it's because either the squirrels or deer have already eaten them. I live in Fredericksburg, VA on 20 acres of hardwoods, the majority of which are oaks. I'm also surrounded by another 300 acres of hardwoods and I can tell you that there is absolutely no shortage of acorns at least down here; they're everywhere. I also hunt deer and the stomach contents of the deer that I have personally gutted were stuffed with acorns. The likelihood that my little square of Stafford/Fredericksburg, VA somehow escaped this horrible acorn blight that is afflicting the rest of Virginia is HIGHLY unlikely. This story seems like another global warming scare tactic.
TomJoad
· 12 months ago
His last sentence gives him away.
One does have to use common sense, but that also includes understanding the anecdotal "blind spot" one has not being either a botanist, or not having access more than your little "neck of the woods" and using weird "logic" like "the likelihood that my little square.." which is incredibly stupid, based on what? if there were forest fires all over, but his little square wasn't experiencing them, would it mean there really weren't forest fires?
I'm no expert, and neither is this guy. A healthy dose of skepticism is good, but using this kind of logic....inane and pointless.
The article quote starts with "Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns..." now maybe Rod is a sloppy scientist, but one would assume if they vetted him (and added those qualifiers) there was a point.
Animal Lover
· 12 months ago
Why don't you guys feed the squirrels? I live in the German Alps and we feed the deer and other wildlife when food's short (Wildfuetterung) - tourists even come up on the mountain to see the deer come to get dinner!
Why not take this stuff on walks and feed the poor critters? It's cheap and easy - and good for people to go on walks!
An_American_Karol
· 12 months ago
I was up in Berchtesgarden and Hohenschwangau a few months ago. Your region of the world is lovely.
anarchy
· 12 months ago
because squirrels are RATS with puffy tails! LOL.
actually, I like the little critters - but here in Chicago they manage to scavenge for themselves just fine.
I saw a HUGE squirrel in Lincoln Park last week, he was easily the size of one of my house cats!!
most of them seem to be quite fat for the winter around my neighborhood.
vickif
· 12 months ago
I live in Itasca, My apartment building overlooks Irving Park Rd and we have lots of trees and squirrels. It's fun to watch them running up and down the trees and stuffing their little mouths full. One of the trees is 2 feet away from the busy street and I've never seen them running into the street.They don't bother anybody and the kids in the apartments are told to stay away from the squirrels. We all live in harmony.
scottinsf
· 12 months ago
No. You don't feed wild animals here. Or at least you shouldn't. We have a real problem here in California with bears in the Sierras because of that kind of thinking. Hell, people get the doors ripped off their cars in the middle of the night at Yosemite every year. The last incident of somebody getting killed by wildlife there was by a deer though. Go figure.
vkobaya
· 12 months ago
My God! What are you another Obama-loving, crazed Commie? Feed those thieving beggers. Good grief! Goddamn Lefties always feeling sorry for thieving weaklings as if we could reform them and make them hard working, good tax paying citizens if we just paid them enough. And worst of all, those damn red squirrels, the laziest, thievingest, dirty, filthy, diseased, most Commie of all are illegal immigrants, which explains why they are criminals. It is inborn with them, they are racially inferior not even good tree rats. If you had your way, you would give away the nation helping the thieving, lying, racially inferior who do no work and expect us to support them. We can't afford this kind of tax-wasting, giving away our hard earned money to help every starving tree rat.
Try again you dirty, evil, God-hating, stinking Commie Furiner.
moreleesafer
· 12 months ago
thanks. I will do just that. Normally, I don't feed them because it encourages rodent activity also. But I have also noticed the dearth of squirrels and a few pretty scrawny ones also.
jharp
· 12 months ago
Plenty of nuts in my mini woods in central Indiana. Though the pin oaks didn't produce the burr oaks, buckeye's, and hickory's did.
And plenty of squirrels too and hate to tell but I shoot them. They can and do do a lot of damage.
lxxf
· 12 months ago
They are in Cleveland. We've got tons, and some of the fattest squirrels you've ever seen. Last year the acorns were about 3" thick.
pdxprobert
· 12 months ago
3" thick? id hate to get hit on the head by them as they are falling... or are you talking about pine cones?
lxxf
· 12 months ago
that was a slight exaggeration, but at least an inch thick in some places. Then they sunk into the lawn and really embedded themselves so it was difficult to rake up.
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
I have plenty of acorns in my front yard in NC...and some squirrels, too, although they do tend to steal the bird feed. My rat terrier loves to chase the tree rats but they're just too damned fast. : ) In fact, the squirrels here are so used to humans they perch on the porch railing. It's fun to watch them come up for peanuts.
Maybe VA is just more polluted than this area; after all the manufacturing has been exported from here--we just get Charlotte's leftovers now.
pdxprobert
· 12 months ago
when my dog was younger he liked to chase the squirrels.. i swear they would deliberately antagonize him, already having their escape route in place.. then from a safe distance they would chatter at him like they were saying, na na NA na na...
something else i like to watch is how crow's grab walnuts and drop them from the telephone line to break them open... im sure that shows some sort of cause and effect thinking.....
cowboyneok
· 12 months ago
Oh my G-d, thats scary. Wonder if its some kind of tree disease?
Cpeterka
· 12 months ago
Tons of Acorns up in Eastern PA.
jane b
· 12 months ago
no problem with them in southwestern Virginia. our garden was almost knee deep in them. Never have seen so many. Old folks say a hard winter is coming with that many acorns.
Millineryman
· 12 months ago
I live in a grove of oak trees and we have had a a banner year in NJ. The squirrels are really hearty also.
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
OT, but what is happening to our children and why are they being treated so miserably?
AP PHOENIX – Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to an 8-year-old boy charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his father and another man in their eastern Arizona home, court records show.
Complete details of the offer weren't spelled out in a court filing posted Saturday on the Apache County Superior Court's Web site.
But County Attorney Criss Candelaria wrote that he has "tendered a plea offer to the juvenile's attorneys that would resolve all the charges in the juvenile court contingent on the results of the mental health evaluations."
Candelaria was responding to a defense motion seeking to block him from dropping one of two first-degree murder charges the boy faces in the deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, earlier this month.
Defense attorney Benjamin Brewer argued in a filing Tuesday that prosecutors wanted the charge dismissed so they could refile it when the boy was older and pursue case in adult court.
(The story also reports that the boy told Social Service workers that his "1,000th spanking" would be his last.) Parents who can't cope unfortunately raise children who can't cope...and then put a gun in their hands.
pdxprobert
· 12 months ago
OT - response..im sure there are numerous generations that can say they were spanked or got the belt and turned out be decent and never thought of pulling a gun out to seek revenge.. it was common practice for discipline up until the last few decades.. i can remember kids getting paddled in schools even.. and parents wouldnt sue for it.... there was a time when kids who were disruptive in the classroom brought shame on the parents.... now parents think thats a sign of individuality and how dare you scorn my child for affecting the rest of the classroom... im glad im not in school these days... it got so bad in the schools in my hometown of n. illinois, that the kids or the parents couldnt even wear hats or plaid shirts to their childs sporting events for fear it would be considered gang colors... there used to be a group of homeowners on fairview blvd that would all put up xmas tree lights and it would be a destination point for people wanting to see decorated yards.. they would have a yard signs in some of the yards that spelled out "merry christmas from the fairview blvd gang"... the city made them change their signage from gang to another less inciteful term, so they settled on the term "bunch"... there's lots of anamosity in that town because of how everybody is being treated as a gang member to deter a few... how does this relate to the story about that 8 year old who killed his father and the fathers friend? i think it shows that kids these days know the outcome for their bad behaviours is protected and theres not much that can or will be done to them.. all they have to do is claim they were abused... some of the more wise street kids that ive read interviews about will tell you that many of the homeless kids will tell you that they were abused, but to them abuse meant not getting their way and suffering far less fates of corporal punishments and more like being grounded or told not to hang out with such and such and just not being allowed to do everything they wanted to, then that became abuse.. kids know they can get away with alot these days and theres not much a parent can do for deterrence except hope they make the right decisions when they are called out for their wrongdoings..... i dont remember so many homeless kids and runaways as i see these days.. i dont even like to go downtown anymore because there are so many panhandlers, many of whom appear to be people who should still be at home with their parents... PS - have you noticed the amount of gang shooting by kids in malls lately... gang activity is supposed to become quite a problem for the policing agencies as the economy weakens..
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
But an 8 yr old who suffers at the hand of a father, living in a dysfunctional household should have had some protection. Instead, his father taught him how to shoot a gun--you know, "macho-ing" up the image of being a male, even at 8 yrs old. Even a beaten dog will turn on its master eventually...and won't be a good companion.
pdxprobert
· 12 months ago
Im anxious to hear more details from that case and see just what the circumstances were... i would never teach an 8 year old how to use a gun.. the recoil alone could throw a child that age to the ground... 1000th spanking? that kid probably didnt learn how to count that high until maybe two to three years ago if that...1000 spankings from that time to now would mean pretty much a daily occurrence over the last 3 years...
could you count to 1000 at age 5? or 6? 7? these days kids learn about math on a calculator? do kids even do math long hand anymore? theres something not right with the story from that kid... just a gut feeling?
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
Well, we live in a gun culture now. At age 8 (I'm a female), guns never entered the picture, but when my own 40 somethings were kids, back in the 60s, they did play with toy guns, although I discouraged it, they followed the other kids. But it was child's play back then, not adults teaching kids that age about real guns. And yes, I could count to 1,000...in fact, I was doing fractions at that age, but school was important, not imitating adults.
Anonymous
· 12 months ago
Just one question: Is it Bush's fault? Will Obama fix the problem?
anonymous
· 12 months ago
That happened last year in my part of Alabama, was caused by a late frost that happened when the trees were in flower. Kills the flowers and the leaves, then the leaves bud out again, but this time without the flowers. It probably only affected the earlier flowering nut trees, not the later flowering ones.
lost_nacf_gop
· 12 months ago
Lot of acorns/pine nuts in Davis, CA. Car kept getting bombarded with 'em last Wednesday.
(Excerpt) "We're drowning in acorns," says UC Davis oak expert Bethallyn Black, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist based in Pleasant Hill.
Here are some of the most common questions Black is asked, and her answers.
Q: Do all these acorns mean we will have a cold winter?
A: No. Trees have no ability to predict the future. It's not what is going to happen, it is what did happen: The January freeze killed some acorn-eating insects, and the unusually dry April helped a lot of acorn flowers be pollinated by wind.
(end excerpt)
Cobwebs
· 12 months ago
We're in Manassas and were up to our eyebrows in them. I actually made acorn flour this year because we had so many. So not everywhere in Northern VA is affected.
Nylund
· 12 months ago
My guess is that the more dimwitted members of the VA GOP took the election campaign allegations against ACORN a little too literally.
Steal the acorns so ACORNs can't steal the election.
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
This from Wikipedia:
Increasing land values and re-development (most of which is by-right development[citation needed]) has diminished Arlington's tree canopy...
Additionally, Arlington County is only 26 sq. miles, and the Pentagon and National Airport as well as Arlington Cemetery are located there. Those don't leave a lot of space for trees, either.
An_American_Karol
· 12 months ago
Fat and happy squirrels here in Central California - of course, we have a lot of nut trees. Every other yard has a walnut, pecan, or almond tree.
Robert
· 12 months ago
Oops, sorry; UCD article was from last year. But there's brief mentions in the papers that this year is another big one.
Excerpt: "Mother Nature is supplying plenty of raw material for such whimsical pursuits. We're in the midst of a "mast year" bumper crop with an avalanche of acorns."
Bill
· 12 months ago
Same thing, no acorns on any oaks this year on Long Island, NY. We are usually loaded with them also.
bartonizer
· 12 months ago
I'm not sure what's happening in Northern VA. I live in Western NC, and for most of September and October, my huge pin oaks rained acorns like I've never seen. If you walked out on our deck, you'd get in the head, and if you went out to get the newspaper, you HAD to put shoes on, as the ground was carpeted with acorns. Now there are none. The only thing out of the ordinary here is how quickly ALL of the nuts disappeared. I think that cold November weather in the Mid-Atlantic shifted the squirrels into overdrive stashing their nuts.
Kansaskitty
· 12 months ago
We have acorns and walnuts aplenty here in eastern Kansas this year. Now then, last year was a different story - we had a late spring hard freeze for 3 days in a row last year that killed all the buds of acorns and fruits of all kinds. Last year was bad, no fruit, no nuts and we had very few flowers either from the freeze - no irises or lilacs and few daylilies. I sure missed them, too!
Lucy
· 12 months ago
It's an "acorn year" here in Chicago. Acorns rain down every other year. and when it 'rains' here, it pours!
jurassicpork
· 12 months ago
Washington, DC suffering a dearth of nuts? Say it ain't so, Joe!
These news items from all over sound like headlines from the Onion: Priest equates vote for Obama with sin; Clinton comes clean with Obama over donor list; MSM to merge with Psy-Ops in Afghanistan; War profiteers advertise wares on network news. But they're not. They're, sadly, all real.
EdNSted
· 12 months ago
We have no acorns this year either - at least in this small area of Iowa - but there's nothing unusual about that. As others here have pointed out, oaks (at least the red and white oaks in my neighborhood) alternate years. Last year was a bumber crop of acorns around here so this year I wasn't expecting many. As for the tree rats in this neighborhood, they're looking quite healthy. and the deer population is huge. Pheasants are down a bit.
red_dwarf
· 12 months ago
It is estimated that 25% of all species will be extinct in the next 50-100 years. Extinctions occur generally en masse since the web of life tends to behave like dominos when they start tumbling - wait until sea levels start to rise and littoral regions along the coast move inward, etc. We haven't seen nothing yet. Chaos is well underway in the worlds oceans (methane leaks inc., coral reefs dyring off, we could go on and on and on).
And what is the rePiglican response? Drill, baby drill!
The human race has a monopoly on insanity - or better, greed and selfishness. Like lemmings running over a cliff's edge to their deaths we are following fascist corporations down the road of mass extinctions. This year nuts. Next year birds. And ad infinitum. CO2 levels haven't been this high in nearly 1,000,000 years. Can't say we weren't warned. But I suppose, in the end, so long as we survive that's all that matters, eh?
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
Yeah, but what are we gonna survive on? The living will envy the dead.
houstonray
· 12 months ago
Two words: Soylent Green.
smoke
· 12 months ago
Plenty of nuts in NE Tennessee
An_American_Karol
· 12 months ago
Hi, smoke! How are those nuts in Tennessee these days?
Zang
· 12 months ago
Plenty here in central Texas, they cover the ground all crunchy underfoot. Haven't been hit yet though.
hawkseye
· 12 months ago
Until our recent move, we lived for 2 1/2 years in a condo village with lots of oaks in Petaluma, CA. The first year there were tons of acorns and crows everywhere stuffing themselves. Last year and this, there were no acorns that I could see, and the crows dined elsewhere.
Indigo
· 12 months ago
We aren't getting many acorns this year but we have plenty of date palm seeds and pine cones. The squirrels here are like sumo wrestlers, they're so well fed by the cat food and bird seed that people set out. It's fine to set out bird food and all when there's snow on the ground and the animals can't forage.
Here in Florida it makes no sense at all because there's no snow on the ground and there's plenty of seeds from all kinds of plants. People do it anyhow. I wonder sometimes if there's a correlation between people who set out food for the birds and animals in central Florida and the people who object to feeding the poor or giving shelter to the homeless. It's that kind of state.
"Oaks usually produce acorns in alternate years, or will have little production every other year. This is because all of the energy required to produce the acorns. In some years, you may even experience huge bumper crops of acorns from your trees. Climate also plays a big part in the production of acorns as a healthy full-grown tree needs about 50 gallons of water each day."
"Oaks go in a two- to three-year cycle depending on species, says Virginia forester Rob Farrell. Red oaks and white oaks typically alternate heavy years. This is a big year for white oaks. Acorn production varies for many reasons, according to other tree experts. It takes a lot of an oak's energy and food to produce acorns, so a tree's health, vitality and resources can impact numbers. In addition, a late spring frost can blight flowers, which prevents acorn development. Drought and insects also play important roles. An oak's age also relates to acorn production, which begins about the time a tree is 20 years old and increases as the tree ages and its canopy (top foliage) reaches a larger span."
"The oak trees produce acorns once a year during the fall. Acorn production varies year to year and normally alternates. Not even the healthiest and largest oak can accumulate enough food and energy to produce strong crops two years in succession. Real strong acorn productions might happen every four to ten years. In addition, a late spring frost can blight the flowers which prevents acorn development. Droughts and insect ravages can decimate crops."
JMOHR
· 12 months ago
This is Acorn, Inc. We are sick and tired of your socialistic tendencies. Acorns are a commodity like any other to be exploited and derive profit. We have cornered the acorn market. If those free loading squirrels want any of them, they will just have to pay the going market rate in cold, hard cash or with a convenient loan from our financial subsidiary.
vkobaya
· 12 months ago
Yeah, right. Commie, pinko, rat-loving, bleeding-heart liberals want us to redistribute the wealth, feeding the squirrels. Let the squirrels live like the rest of us. Pay cold hard cash for their eats. Those of us who work hard for a living are sick and tired of all these liberal tax and spend giveaways of our taxes to those who contribute nothing to the national economy. Squirrels are just like the rest of us, they have to pull their own weight. Just because they elected that Muslim, Commie, fascist terrorist Obama, now they think they can go crazy giving away our taxes.
chris
· 12 months ago
I live in Raleigh and have discussed with many people how many acorns are on the ground this year. I've heard from more than one long-time resident that this happens about every 10 years in Raleigh. You literally can not walk through my apt community without sliding on acorns the last month.
Bush_Bites
· 12 months ago
So, Joe, are you taking a bag of peanuts out with you when you walk the dog?
(I rarely experience nature, by the way. Concrete all around. In fact, I'm more likely to see a rat than a squirrel.)
RaleighRob
· 12 months ago
There was some news here in NC about how this was a great year for pecans. I guess the flipside is it's a bad year for oaks. So, those squirrels that depend on acorns might not be doing well...but those that live near a good number of pecan trees are fat and happy this year.
Paul Hutchins
· 12 months ago
I can tell you where they are. Most nut trees including pecans alternate "good" and "bad years". Last year the oaks and pecans here in Texas had a bountiful crop of nuts. (too bountiful for oak owners). I had little trees sprouting everywhere. This year there re almost no pecans (or acorns). Being a gardiner I have heard this addressed several times this fall. It is not unusual, just the way of nature. More next year. Poor squirrels!! Put out some corn for them.
moreleesafer
· 12 months ago
Paraphrasing a great quote:
the bees disappeared and since I thought I did not need the bees, I did nothing..... the acorns disappeared and since I thought I did not need the acorn, I did nothing The humans started to disappear.........
R_Elland
· 12 months ago
It might be a good idea to spread this information out as well as the search for the elusive acorn in other regions of the country and world where they usually are expected. (And yea, even though my area mid-Missouri has been warned of a nasty cold winter, I noticed our squirrels while they have really fluffy tails are also looking seriously thin. Something's up in Missouri as well).
Sue from Chicago
· 12 months ago
There aren't many north of Chicago this year either. There are a few, and the hickories seem to be producing normally. The squirrels seem normal but I've caught more mice in the house than usual, maybe they're hungry.
Acorn production is cyclical around here. Most years we have very few acorns and every 5 years or so there's a mast seed year where we have to wear hard hats to go outside.
Older_Wiser
· 12 months ago
Get a can of spray insulation and fill in around all pipes in kitchen, bathrooms, water heater, etc. This will keep the critters out...we had a few mice as well until I did that. Not much is needed, it expands very quickly and you can adjust the amount you need for each opening. Or filling in with steel wool works as well.
Heraclitus
· 12 months ago
FWIW I'm in Northern VA area too. Early in the season I noticed many acorns, e.g. the full ground carpet that presages a huge crop. That was in early October. Now there are not many at all. So, for at least one moment things were good, then not so good.
And I have two anecdotal (one of which I can verify) squirrel B&E's ... incidents where squirrels enter and become trapped in human dwellings. These occur from time to time regardless so I don't know if it signifies, but two in a week is odd.
H.
Gindy
· 12 months ago
Our 7 year old oaks produced acorns this year. Several of our persimmons, also 7 year old trees, produced large amounts of fruit. With all the moisture we had over the spring and the coolness of the summer, the oaks went nuts (usually it takes 10 to 15 years to get acorns!) Ours all fell or were snagged by the deer and squirrels very early, same thing with the black walnuts.. Usually I gather them up and space out the harvest for our squirrels so they have some all winter but I never got a chance to grab them.
Apphouse50
· 12 months ago
I live in a Boston suburb and there were lots of acorns this year.
MaudGonne
· 12 months ago
“If stuff is clearly illegal, we take that down, but if it’s on the edge, you might push a country a little bit,” Wong told me. “Free-speech law is always built on the edge, and in each country, the question is: Can you define what the edge is?” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30go...
MNUSA
· 12 months ago
My squirrels are fat and sassy - they've figured out how to get into the bird feeder. Is it unusual not to have acorns? Apple trees, for example, have light and heavy bearing years. Perhaps it is climate related - lack of rain, too hot, etc.
sherifffruitfly
· 12 months ago
At the risk of being obvious, was a squirrel census taken?
MNPundit
· 12 months ago
Well here in Iowa I am not noticing a lack of acorns on the ground. I am stepping on just as many on my way to school as last year, so it hasn't hit here yet. Jeez, one mystery at a time okay? We just solved the bat-die-off mystery and we are only a little knowledgeable about the bee die-offs. More time before a new one okay?
barbecuesteve
· 12 months ago
I've got a bumper crop of pecans this year in Atlanta.
SUEC716
· 12 months ago
They were in my backyard in Rockville MD! Now the squirrels have them per usual. Perhaps there were a few less than previous years but the rat-a-tat of acorns falling on my sunroom roof seemed pretty average to me!
worg
· 12 months ago
Apparently oaks are bee-pollinated as well as wind-pollinated.
This is pretty strange, though... perhaps there is something going on in Arlington County involving a new type of herbicide that ends up attacking the pollen.
fatstinkycat
· 12 months ago
Spent Thanksgiving holiday camping on my land in Live Oak, Florida...I had 4 days of acorns bouncing off the motor home and everything else including me... there were plenty of happy squirrels...their not as big as northern squirrels...not for lack of food!
Will
· 12 months ago
In my experience, acorns come and go...some years there are many, some years there are none....same for pecans, walnuts, fruits, etc. I spent Thanksgiving weekend shaking a bumper crop of pecans out of my Grandad's pecan trees. Last year, there were almost none.
eamon
· 12 months ago
my California Live Oak seems to be working 24/7 to produce a bumper crop of acorns, the things are everywhere this year. Last year there were very few acorns. Dogs seem to love them. It is very wise to try to prevent your dog, especially if the dog is a house dog, from eating the acorns. At least until we can figure out a way to harness the energy that is trapped within the gas produced by the poor dog.
JACKI CHAN
· 12 months ago
ahahhaahahhah I have stolen all of the acorns! they are all mine! MINE I TELL YOU!
jeffg166
· 12 months ago
Some years the weather make pollination hard for the trees. If it was rainy during their flowering period there a good chance it didn't happen.
Gorhamguy
· 12 months ago
It was a bumper year for acorns in New Hampshire......huge piles of them raked up under trees and falling and blocking drain pipes.....
DumbJokeAttemptFollows7643
· 12 months ago
Egads, McCain was right... the fabric of democracy is in peril, and we can blame it all on ACORN!!
mary
· 12 months ago
i live in st. louis and i am surrounded by oak trees. not one single acorn has been seen. very unusual.
JJ
· 12 months ago
In Northern Michigan there is an old wives' tale that says the acorn crop predicts the severity of the coming winter weather. According to the old wives, more acorns means the winter will be colder with more snow, and fewer acorns means the winter will be warmer and shorter.
Mapman
· 12 months ago
I'm in Upstate NY. On the lawn next to my church there are two copper beeches and an oak, all of which have produced an enormous crop of nuts. It sounds to me like a local pollination issue, and since oaks rely on wind pollination, it's not the bees' fault.
All Comments
AbeTolemahcs wrote:
This story is nuts. If acorns have disappeared it's because either the squirrels or deer have already eaten them. I live in Fredericksburg, VA on 20 acres of hardwoods, the majority of which are oaks. I'm also surrounded by another 300 acres of hardwoods and I can tell you that there is absolutely no shortage of acorns at least down here; they're everywhere. I also hunt deer and the stomach contents of the deer that I have personally gutted were stuffed with acorns. The likelihood that my little square of Stafford/Fredericksburg, VA somehow escaped this horrible acorn blight that is afflicting the rest of Virginia is HIGHLY unlikely.
This story seems like another global warming scare tactic.
One does have to use common sense, but that also includes understanding the anecdotal "blind spot" one has not being either a botanist, or not having access more than your little "neck of the woods" and using weird "logic" like "the likelihood that my little square.." which is incredibly stupid, based on what? if there were forest fires all over, but his little square wasn't experiencing them, would it mean there really weren't forest fires?
I'm no expert, and neither is this guy. A healthy dose of skepticism is good, but using this kind of logic....inane and pointless.
The article quote starts with "Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns..."
now maybe Rod is a sloppy scientist, but one would assume if they vetted him (and added those qualifiers) there was a point.
Here's a list of foods that squirrels should eat - and it also includes no-no's.
http://www.squirrel-rescue.com/squirrel-diet.htm
Why not take this stuff on walks and feed the poor critters? It's cheap and easy - and good for people to go on walks!
actually, I like the little critters - but here in Chicago
they manage to scavenge for themselves just fine.
I saw a HUGE squirrel in Lincoln Park last week,
he was easily the size of one of my house cats!!
most of them seem to be quite fat for the winter
around my neighborhood.
Try again you dirty, evil, God-hating, stinking Commie Furiner.
And plenty of squirrels too and hate to tell but I shoot them. They can and do do a lot of damage.
Maybe VA is just more polluted than this area; after all the manufacturing has been exported from here--we just get Charlotte's leftovers now.
something else i like to watch is how crow's grab walnuts and drop them from the telephone line to break them open... im sure that shows some sort of cause and effect thinking.....
AP PHOENIX – Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to an 8-year-old boy charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his father and another man in their eastern Arizona home, court records show.
Complete details of the offer weren't spelled out in a court filing posted Saturday on the Apache County Superior Court's Web site.
But County Attorney Criss Candelaria wrote that he has "tendered a plea offer to the juvenile's attorneys that would resolve all the charges in the juvenile court contingent on the results of the mental health evaluations."
Candelaria was responding to a defense motion seeking to block him from dropping one of two first-degree murder charges the boy faces in the deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, earlier this month.
Defense attorney Benjamin Brewer argued in a filing Tuesday that prosecutors wanted the charge dismissed so they could refile it when the boy was older and pursue case in adult court.
(The story also reports that the boy told Social Service workers that his "1,000th spanking" would be his last.) Parents who can't cope unfortunately raise children who can't cope...and then put a gun in their hands.
could you count to 1000 at age 5? or 6? 7? these days kids learn about math on a calculator? do kids even do math long hand anymore? theres something not right with the story from that kid... just a gut feeling?
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/arti...
(Excerpt)
"We're drowning in acorns," says UC Davis oak expert Bethallyn Black, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist based in Pleasant Hill.
Here are some of the most common questions Black is asked, and her answers.
Q: Do all these acorns mean we will have a cold winter?
A: No. Trees have no ability to predict the future. It's not what is going to happen, it is what did happen: The January freeze killed some acorn-eating insects, and the unusually dry April helped a lot of acorn flowers be pollinated by wind.
(end excerpt)
Steal the acorns so ACORNs can't steal the election.
Increasing land values and re-development (most of which is by-right development[citation needed]) has diminished Arlington's tree canopy...
Additionally, Arlington County is only 26 sq. miles, and the Pentagon and National Airport as well as Arlington Cemetery are located there. Those don't leave a lot of space for trees, either.
http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/1418141.html (from last week)
Excerpt:
"Mother Nature is supplying plenty of raw material for such whimsical pursuits. We're in the midst of a "mast year" bumper crop with an avalanche of acorns."
These news items from all over sound like headlines from the Onion: Priest equates vote for Obama with sin; Clinton comes clean with Obama over donor list; MSM to merge with Psy-Ops in Afghanistan; War profiteers advertise wares on network news. But they're not. They're, sadly, all real.
And what is the rePiglican response? Drill, baby drill!
The human race has a monopoly on insanity - or better, greed and selfishness. Like lemmings running over a cliff's edge to their deaths we are following fascist corporations down the road of mass extinctions. This year nuts. Next year birds. And ad infinitum. CO2 levels haven't been this high in nearly 1,000,000 years. Can't say we weren't warned. But I suppose, in the end, so long as we survive that's all that matters, eh?
Here in Florida it makes no sense at all because there's no snow on the ground and there's plenty of seeds from all kinds of plants. People do it anyhow. I wonder sometimes if there's a correlation between people who set out food for the birds and animals in central Florida and the people who object to feeding the poor or giving shelter to the homeless. It's that kind of state.
http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Oak
"Oaks usually produce acorns in alternate years, or will have little production every other year. This is because all of the energy required to produce the acorns. In some years, you may even experience huge bumper crops of acorns from your trees. Climate also plays a big part in the production of acorns as a healthy full-grown tree needs about 50 gallons of water each day."
http://www.dailypress.com/features/home/garden/...
"Oaks go in a two- to three-year cycle depending on species, says Virginia forester Rob Farrell. Red oaks and white oaks typically alternate heavy years. This is a big year for white oaks. Acorn production varies for many reasons, according to other tree experts. It takes a lot of an oak's energy and food to produce acorns, so a tree's health, vitality and resources can impact numbers. In addition, a late spring frost can blight flowers, which prevents acorn development. Drought and insects also play important roles. An oak's age also relates to acorn production, which begins about the time a tree is 20 years old and increases as the tree ages and its canopy (top foliage) reaches a larger span."
http://www.arcytech.org/java/population/facts_o...
"The oak trees produce acorns once a year during the fall. Acorn production varies year to year and normally alternates. Not even the healthiest and largest oak can accumulate enough food and energy to produce strong crops two years in succession. Real strong acorn productions might happen every four to ten years. In addition, a late spring frost can blight the flowers which prevents acorn development. Droughts and insect ravages can decimate crops."
(I rarely experience nature, by the way. Concrete all around. In fact, I'm more likely to see a rat than a squirrel.)
the bees disappeared and since I thought I did not need the bees, I did nothing.....
the acorns disappeared and since I thought I did not need the acorn, I did nothing
The humans started to disappear.........
(And yea, even though my area mid-Missouri has been warned of a nasty cold winter, I noticed our squirrels while they have really fluffy tails are also looking seriously thin. Something's up in Missouri as well).
Acorn production is cyclical around here. Most years we have very few acorns and every 5 years or so there's a mast seed year where we have to wear hard hats to go outside.
And I have two anecdotal (one of which I can verify) squirrel B&E's ... incidents where squirrels enter and become trapped in human dwellings. These occur from time to time regardless so I don't know if it signifies, but two in a week is odd.
H.
With all the moisture we had over the spring and the coolness of the summer, the oaks went nuts (usually it takes 10 to 15 years to get acorns!)
Ours all fell or were snagged by the deer and squirrels very early, same thing with the black walnuts.. Usually I gather them up and space out the harvest for our squirrels so they have some all winter but I never got a chance to grab them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30go...
This is pretty strange, though... perhaps there is something going on in Arlington County involving a new type of herbicide that ends up attacking the pollen.