Anyone up for a bitter acorn?
I’ve been dealing with the unmistakable sound of acorns plopping off my backyard oak tree the past few weeks. The amount of acorns produced by oak trees can vary quite a bit 
from year to year, from almost none to bushels and bushels of the head conkers. This year seems to be what’s called a “mast year,” where the seed bearing nuts are extremely plentiful…. and quite dangerous to us ground dwellers. Especially when you’re walking through a park full of squirrels picking them out of the trees! On my most recent trip to the park last week, I was a bit surprised to find so little squirrel activity going on down on terra firma (Or terra cotta, as Mitzi would say)… at least until I heard all of the buzzing of activity going on up above me. And of course, the bevy of nuts that were raining down from the sciurine harvesters.
Above is a photo of one of the park’s oaks loaded to the gills with acorns still there for the taking. Just imagine how many of them can come from just one tree with how bunched up they are on just a few branches!
Wait a minute! This is the Saturday Squirrel post, after all. Shouldn’t we have a squirrel in it?
Oh wow! A bonanza!!!!
Have a great and nutty weekend everyone!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
We have TONS of acorns raining down this year so it indeed is a bumper crop…..squirrels are stashing them all over the place – potted plants on the front porch every morning have dirt scattered everywhere thanks to the little diggers. It’s dangerous walking around out there too – especially on a hill – like walking on a sea of marbles.
Pam
It’s been a few years since I saw an acorn harvest like this one. I remember the first few years I lived here, it was literally every other year would be lots and then none… and then it went a bit dry for a few years straight. This year’s more than making up for that drought!
Oak trees are beautiful but I e never wanted to plant one because of the acorns. Hate raking them all up!
It beats the tree we had in the backyard of the house I grew up in. Can’t remember the official name, but it was called the “tree of heaven”… a very ironic name since it multiplied like a weed and rained down the absolutely most disgusting pollen every Spring that would cover the entire ground for about a fifty foot radius! The squirrels at least take care of a chunk of my acorn piles…
Looking forward to raking them up in December for squirrel food over the winter…
The squirrels are looking forward to it as well! Especially if it’s a sign of a hard winter….
That squirrel will have tons of acorns to stash!
I just hope they don’t forget them or else I’ll have a whole forest next year! Hey, maybe then I wouldn’t have to cut the grass!
We rented a cottage the last week of August and we were peppered by acorns. They’re really hard on bare feet too! I dared to nap in the hammock one afternoon, and woke up to a very angry black squirrel screeching 2 feet from my face. I think he was nuts! lol
Aw, I’ll bet that was so cute! Even when they’re mad at you and want to rip your face off, squirrels are so adorable!
He was cute from a distance but terrifying up close, especially when I was trapped in a fraying hammock. He certainly wasn’t scared of me!!
We’ve been dealing with the unmistakable sound of apples bombing our truck. It’s really loud! If the oak tree next to it ever starts making acorns, half of my driveway will be unusable in the fall! But we will have happy squirrels, so I’m still hoping for acorns.
I’d think it will eventually make acorns, unless maybe it has some kind of gender issue. I am glad I don’t have apples falling on my roof, though. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep through that…
I thought it was another of those “can you spot the squirrel” ones and spent ages trying to see him in the first photo…
Keep looking…. there just might be one there after all. There’s no time limit to this game…
I was trying to take a picture of the same squirrel as below, and only saved that first shot because it showed off how loaded with acorns the trees were. It’s possible he may be buried in the background somewhere, but I doubt it….
OMG OMG OMG such cuteness.
If he started plucking the acorns and throwing them at me he’d be even cuter!
Walking around my ‘hood has begun to be a bit dangerous on the acorn front as well. If I’m not bombarded with them, I end up nearly rolling into a heap from stepping on those that are still too hard to crack. 🐿
If you ask your squirrel friends really, really nicely, they might pick them up for you!
Bwahahaha…surely you jest?
Not surprisingly, we have LOTS of acorns too. Sometimes they are so big and heavy they leave dents in the car. Over the years, it gets to looking a bit pockmarked. They have been spraying so heavily for EEE mosquitoes, I’m worried about the squirrels and the birds. It means they’ve sprayed ALL the insects the birds eat and ALL the acorns in the trees. They sprayed so efficiently, the entire side of my house is stained from the spray — as is everyone else’s house. It’s like an aerial trail of death, only unlike Buster, they won’t come back. I’m REALLY worried about them.