Oaks again -diffferent
Yesterday I got 6 bags filled with huge dry cardboard-like leaves before I ran out of bags. Wish I'd had more because it rained all night (and today) so I'll have to wait for them to dry again.
But I happened on an article about acorns - as in there aren't any.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112902045.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR
And I realized it was true at least around here. Last year Trinity, a 4 year old who lives in the apartment, made piles of acorns collected from my yard. Her big pile was near where I walk to my car so I was crunching constantly. And then of course Robin liked to throw them so they were all over the front yard instead of hidden in bushes and under the leaves.
But this year there are no new acorns.
The article mentions that acorns have patterns, and also that acorns can take 2 years to form, and that the heavy rains of spring may have impacted the regional pollen (we were spared the yellow coating on everything this spring). But apparently NO (none, nada, zip) acorns is plain weird. I did a quick Google search and it seems New England has a bumper crop this year.
This matters not much for the oaks - but the squirrels and deer are having a hungry fall and there will likely be starvation this winter. I'm thinking I will be a bit more conscious about putting out seeds and peanut butter this winter. If you live in an area with no acorns, please feed the animals this year.
But I happened on an article about acorns - as in there aren't any.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112902045.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR
And I realized it was true at least around here. Last year Trinity, a 4 year old who lives in the apartment, made piles of acorns collected from my yard. Her big pile was near where I walk to my car so I was crunching constantly. And then of course Robin liked to throw them so they were all over the front yard instead of hidden in bushes and under the leaves.
But this year there are no new acorns.
The article mentions that acorns have patterns, and also that acorns can take 2 years to form, and that the heavy rains of spring may have impacted the regional pollen (we were spared the yellow coating on everything this spring). But apparently NO (none, nada, zip) acorns is plain weird. I did a quick Google search and it seems New England has a bumper crop this year.
This matters not much for the oaks - but the squirrels and deer are having a hungry fall and there will likely be starvation this winter. I'm thinking I will be a bit more conscious about putting out seeds and peanut butter this winter. If you live in an area with no acorns, please feed the animals this year.