North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hank Burchard <hank@burchard.org>]

Alan, don't waste those tree rats. They're excellent eating, especially 
with chestnut puree and applesauce.

Hank Burchard
Pecker Wood Farm
7b Amherst VA
> Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 18:14:27 -0400
> From: "Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>
> Subject: [NAFEX] squirrel fever
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID:
>         <1f544d60810041514u6d677747j767c1ba16978cf2b@mail.gmail.com>
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>
> There are no acorns or hickory nuts, these species have become biennial
> around my place since a very hard late freeze we had several years ago that
> wiped out the apple crop in the Hudson valley for the first time in half a
> century.  We had no acorns that year either, of course.  It took only 3
> years for me to get the apples back to normal annual production but it seems
> the mast crop hasn't steadied yet.
>
> This has meant that the squirrel population has had a kind of biennial
> pattern as well with populations peaking just as food disappears.  This is
> just anecdotal observation but at any rate we have all these crazy grey
> squirrels with no nuts to squirrel away and they are frantic.
>
> I have kept them from most of my fruit crop with a combination of shot gun
> shells and alternative food sources.  First it was the blueberries and
> mulberries then autumn olives and dogwood berries.  Now they have removed
> most of the chestnuts well before being ripe.  I may have killed the last
> one actively foraging so there could still be enough for Thanksgiving
> stuffing which is all I really need.  Meanwhile I still have my late apples
> on the trees.
>
> The problem is they keep coming from further back in the woods as they
> search far and wide for anything to eat.  At least I can draw two positives
> from the situation.  Every kill is merciful because it's quicker than the
> starvation the animals will otherwise experience this winter and even
> better- most of the ones I don't kill will starve before next spring.
>
> Still fighting nature for my crop in southeastern NY
>