where did all the acorns go?
yet another article of the strange changes taking place on the planet. add it to the mass death of bee colonies, the white nose fungus killing off bats, crabs disappearing from chesapeake bay, and baby oyster deaths leading to a shortage of mature oysters by 2010
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 30, 2008; Page A01
The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head.
Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill.
But Simmons really got spooked when he was teaching a class on identifying oak and hickory trees late last month. For 2 1/2 miles, Simmons and other naturalists hiked through Northern Virginia oak and hickory forests. They sifted through leaves on the ground, dug in the dirt and peered into the tree canopies. Nothing.
i have seen very few acorns here on my hikes. considerably fewer than would be expected given the high volume of oak species in this part of the country. hrm... come to think of it, i have seen close to none. i can probably count on my fingers the number i have seen.
decided to record yet another instance of the bizarre turn the world is taking.
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 30, 2008; Page A01
The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head.
Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill.
But Simmons really got spooked when he was teaching a class on identifying oak and hickory trees late last month. For 2 1/2 miles, Simmons and other naturalists hiked through Northern Virginia oak and hickory forests. They sifted through leaves on the ground, dug in the dirt and peered into the tree canopies. Nothing.
i have seen very few acorns here on my hikes. considerably fewer than would be expected given the high volume of oak species in this part of the country. hrm... come to think of it, i have seen close to none. i can probably count on my fingers the number i have seen.
decided to record yet another instance of the bizarre turn the world is taking.