Storm's a'Coming

I read an anecdote on the web about how you can tell if a storm or bad weather is coming by the acorns on the oak trees. Basically, squirrels sense the bad weather and strip the tree of acorns.

That certainly seems true around here. Over the weekend, there were tons of acorns in the trees and on the ground. As recently as Wednesday night, the crown of the walnut tree was bent over from the weight of the walnuts. Last night, the acorns were missing and the walnut tree was standing upright again. Not to mention some squirrel had sat in my lantana pot, breaking some of the stems, and dug two holes!

Today is the storm. The remnants of Tammy and a cold front coming across the mountains have met up and are going to give plenty of rain to end our mini-drought. They're calling for at least 3 inches and there are flash flood warnings all across the region into the weekend.

With this rain, most of the nuts "stored" on the trees are bound to come down and wash into gullies and storm grates. So, it is smart of the squirrels to start tucking it away. However, it would make more sense if those squirrels could actually remember where they planted their caches. What good is stored food if you can't find it again?

I don't mind them tearing up the beds. I don't even try to fight them on the bird feeder. Although, I think the birds do that, if there's anything left after the birds descend. And the neighbors put out peanuts for them. Which I only mind when the squirrels throw the shells all over my yard making it a pain to mow. I do mind them tearing up my containers. Those plants have a hard enough time at the end of the growing season and being brought inside when the temperature drops. (They're in permanently now.)

In the end, I am just happy by the squirrels forecasting a good soaker. That means I can stop doing my raindance.


Yesterday's precipitation: scattered sprinkles early, scattered light rain in the evening -- 1/16"