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France 13C (Orléans, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 9, fol. 187v)
The Smithsonian relates that when the weather catches a chill in the autumn, squirrels begin what looks like preparation for a wide-scale scavenger hunt. In great numbers, squirrels begin to bury nuts! They know food will be scarce throughout the winter & spring...How do the squirrels find their nuts again? In the US, Eastern gray squirrels, in particular, bury their nuts far & wide.
Scientists have observed gray squirrels frequently burying & reburying their nuts... The gray squirrel community is rampant with nut theft. Squirrels can lose as much as 25% of their cached nuts to thieves! Luckily, squirrels have developed some clever tactics to protect their nuts. Scientists have observed squirrels creating false caches in order to trick thieves. If squirrels are suspicious of thieves, they will also start to hide their nuts in difficult to reach places (such as under bushes or in muddy areas).
A squirrel eating a nut, Add MS 18852, f. 88v
While it might be frustrating for squirrels to lose their carefully hidden nuts, it can be beneficial for other organisms. It can help the forest itself! A study done at the University of Richmond in Virginia, cites that squirrels fail to recover up to 74% of the nuts they bury. Misplacing of so many acorns (the seeds of oak trees), the study says, is likely responsible for oak forest regeneration. When squirrels misplace these buried acorns, they allow for these seeds to eventually grow into full oak trees near & far!
See
University Of Richmond. "Researchers Tackle The Nutty Truth On Acorns And Squirrels." ScienceDaily. 26 November 1998.
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