What, No Acorns?
What, No Acorns?
Have you noticed the lack of acorns this year? Robert Reader got in touch as he had noticed they were few and far between combined with large amounts of the husks of conkers lying around. So, what are the squirrels up to?
Last year, 2020, was a ‘mast’ year for acorns. ‘Mast’ derives from the Old English ‘maest’ which simply means the nuts of forest trees which have accumulated on the ground. We tend to use mast to mean years when there are a lot of them and this applied last year all over Britain. This year, the reverse applies and whether you are in Glamorgan, Somerset or Yorkshire people are reporting few if any acorns. Interestingly the Knopper Gall which distorts growing acorns and can often be found scattered on the pavement underneath the School oaks, are not to be found. The reasons behind mast years are varied including the weather but also may be linked to ensuring the continuation of the oaks by producing a bumper crop, many of which are buried by squirrels, birds and rodents. These are then followed by lean years which keeps the populations of small animals under control.
So with a shortage of acorns this year for the squirrels to bury are they turning to conkers? Well, yes and no. Conkers contains a poison which squirrels can detect if they try to eat them but this will not prevent their hoarding instincts from kicking in. So wherever you find loads of conker shells but no conkers you can assume that the squirrels have been carrying off the conkers and burying them. The net result will be loads of Horse Chestnut saplings next year!. More recently Sweet Chestnuts have been falling and the squirrels are losing no time in gathering these up. Grange Park is a good spot to see them in action.
A few things to look out for at the moment. Every garden seems to be festooned with spider webs, most of which will be the Garden Spider which can be quite a chunky size. And the Harlequin Ladybird is everywhere. These come in different patterns but they are larger than our familiar 7-spot Ladybird. They also move into houses and can be found in any gaps around doors and windows where they can gain access and spend the winter. Also check out the flowering Ivy which is all over the place in Wenvoe. If you see what looks like a wasp but has a hairy back it is probably the Ivy Bee which only arrived in Britain in 2001 so has made a good job of spreading around the country.