I spent a few Saturday Squirrel posts over the years covering one of the nastier realities of 
living in the American Midwest, where sweet gum trees were planted in force during the early part of the 20th Century. Every year, they drop these spiky green balls en masse all over the ground… which will eventually turn dried up and brown, and that’s when they really become a hazard to bare feet. We’ll see the results of that later in this countdown…. but for our #47 squirrel today, I present this cute fella who didn’t listen to his Mama’s advice not to put just anything in your mouth.
Is he really going to eat that little round cactus impersonator?
Looks like he might be having second thoughts….
Or not….
Of course he is, because squirrels apparently do find these sweet gum spiky balls to be a delicacy…. at least when they’re still green and somewhat soft. Still, I do hope this adventurous eater has a cast iron stomach…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
I hated those trees and their spiky torture inducing droppings. Very glad we don’t have and here…
Growing up, there was one two houses down right over the sidewalk. Between those and the spiky weeds that were all over my old hood, going outside barefoot was just asking for trouble…
We had one overhanging our back deck when we lived in NC. What a nightmare..
Those things are practically nirvana to rodents!
Ow! The squirrels must have a real taste for those spiky things! A friend brought over a HUGE bag of acorns from his yard so I’ve been putting some out every day – they disappear in a few hours!