Vince_Condella's Blog

Hats off to the lively grey squirrel.  Oh sure, you may regard it as simply a rodent, but this little critter is a powerhouse of energy.  And this time of year it is very busy.

The grey squirrels are scurrying around our yards burying nuts by the dozens.  It's fun to watch this ritual.  In fact, Sammy the Wonder Dog's favorite hobby is chasing the squirrels up a tree.  But they always return to carry on their business in the fall.  It's serious business, too, because the squirrels are caching nuts for future retrieval.  After all, in a few months the snow and cold will be here, and finding food will not be an easy task.

The big question is how do the squirrels know where they buried the nuts?  Is it memory or smell?  There is some debate about this.  Some scientists who study squirrel behavior believe the squirrel has an expansive spatial memory and, based on landmarks in the yard, knows how to find a buried cache of food.  Other scientists believe it is the squirrel's keen sense of smell that does the trick.  It is believed that squirrels have the ability to smell through several feet of snow and find the nuts using their nose.

Research going back to 1884 aims to determine why squirrels eat some nuts right away in the fall while burying other nuts.  The thought is that nuts with a high tannin content, like acorns, don't taste very good and can be potentially poisonous.  The squirrel can taste the tannin content of the nut and decide to bury it, allowing the tannin to leach out into the soil.  After a few weeks or months, the squirrel then goes back to find the nut and safely eat it.

No matter which research finding is true, the grey squirrel is one energetic creature.  When you see one scampering around the yard these days, give it a salute and appreciate how it is preparing for winter.