Skip to main content

Woodland News

Back to News
Squirrels In Your Woodlot

Rising temperatures, birds chirping, and flowers growing.  Spring is here, and you are not the only one who has noticed. Perhaps if you spent some time out in the woods this winter you took a moment to observe the deafening quiet of a fresh snow fall . Much is different in the first few weeks of spring as temperatures warm and the creatures of the forest become more active.

Eastern Grey Squirrel 2 600x399
Eastern Grey Squirrel

One of these creatures is the Eastern Grey Squirrel. These arboreal creatures are the gentle gardeners of your forest, although perhaps not intentionally. Much of what we observe of squirrels’ day to day activities is their almost frantic pursuit of food. In the fall our little grey buddies are stashing away food for the long winter. In the spring however, they are scratching their heads trying to remember where they buried it.

While our forests provide vital habitat for these creatures, squirrels also provide an important service in return. Although squirrels may not be categorized as picky eaters they are particularly fond of the nuts produced by trees such as oak, chestnut, and walnut, to name a few. For squirrels these nuts are a critical source of fat and protein.

These nut-producing trees welcome the company of squirrels with open branches.  Squirrels are hoarders by nature, stashing away and burying tiny stores of food for the winter. Seeds from an oak tree are a favorite of squirrels, but beneath the large canopy of an oak tree, a dropped acorn stands little chance of reaching its full potential. It is here that the symbiotic relationship between plant and animal is on full display. Acorns are gathered and taken away from the shade of their parent and buried in a more suitable growing condition for safe keeping. From that point, it is a sheer numbers game. While a great number of tree seeds are planted in this way, only a fraction of those seeds actually become food later on for the squirrels that planted them. The rest are destined for a chance to become a great large oak tree, like their ancestors before them.