2) "Half eaten green acorns were not resulting in dead squirrels in my yard" I cleaned house drastically after that, I am sick and tired of seeing squirrels in captivity suffer because they are an illegal pet and no vet will risk helping them since they will lose their license to practice if caught. Did you sleep through class when they taught the scientific method? I don't worry about the "pinheads" who write nasty stuff. Squirrels are omnivores and that means they will eat plants as well as meat. will the deer even eat them? Then out of the blue he would growl and jump at any one who got near his cage or secret stash (green acorns) he even bit my husband's hand. Eventually someone steered me to your article. When Is The Best Time To Dethatch Your Lawn? I re-read Mr. Sells blog and he was not saying acorns are toxic, on the contrary, he had changed his opinion from years past to say that they are not. Aggression out in the wild usually takes the form of chasing, but rarely do you hear the loud vocalizations like when they are arguing over food, ( unless there is a bunch trying to get into a feeder.) Seeds have a nutritious center. The squirrel is fully capable of making that determination. Nuts are an optimal source of fat and protein for all types of squirrels. That's 5 tons of acorns. (I can provide many sources to back this information up, if you would like.) I've asked a local wildlife rehabber if she wanted to continue his journey, and she wasn't too interested. I know that. May 2013 Hi lla! I'm getting as much info as I can from all the sources I can find. Now, the question remains as to what killed the squirrel. They also enjoy eating avocados, oranges, apples, and apricots. Waldo is 18 weeks old and has always been so gentle to take food out of my hand, or while hiding it in my hair or coat cap. Or, if by chance I have a captive squirrel who is acting out of sorts - I have a place to start in diagnosing why it is acting strange. But of course, I don't know what I'm talking about because Sigred said it's, "the most idiotic conclusion I have ever read!" Shortness of breath was the only symptom. Squirrels enthusiastically collect and eat pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, acorns, cashews, chestnuts, hickory nuts, pine nuts out of pine cones, and macadamia nuts. If I've created a "firestorm" of controversy, I apparently don't read the same things you do, because very few seem to be writing and telling me where I'm wrong. ... or any squirrel for that matter. February 2016 Yes, after falling in autumn, each acorn can produce a new oak sapling the following spring. I'm so confused lol We've been feeding our flyers a few acorns every day along with the dry squirrel food and fresh fruit. Most of the squirrels will eat the entire white acorn but will eat half of the red acorn. Thanks for the vote of confidence! Bill E. I personally would guess that since Squirrels eat mealy worms and insects the frozen worms would add some extra protein...but that is just my guess. They are" bouncing off the walls" wired. February 2017 If you write to me at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com I can send you all the information you need on raise and release. I may not have a Harvard degree, but I can tell you that Sigrid is not a polite person. I asked him if there was a lot of Oak trees in that woods? So much for smug,persons, whose anger interferes with logic, intelligence, civilised behaviour- didn't receive that too well either Acorns belonging to trees in the red oak group take two growing seasons to mature while acorns in the white oak group mature in one season. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Through the guidance of a squirrel loving friend and sites like yours, I've managed to bring "Carl" from drinking from an eye dropper, to drinking formula from a small bowl, to eating rodent blocks and fresh veggies - with a few nuts and black berries thrown in there as treats. There are 32 species of oaks across eastern North America, but squirrels only eat and hoard certain types. I did read the entire article ( imagine that!) My suspicion is theat you may have someone in the neighborhood that doesn't like squirrels, and is in the process of poisoning them. The reason I think Sigrid is Clarissa, is because she makes the same outrageous claims that Clarissa did. Can you hear them laughing at you? Acorns are loaded with tannins, and they are easier to crack than other harder nuts. Given that squirrels are less than 1/10th the size of people, if you could do this, you would be a superhero who could literally jump onto five story buildings and clear buses and trucks in a single bound. They are inundated with injured, orphaned and displaced animals at the moment. William Sells is a Registered Nurse turned Squirrel Rehabber and Nutritionist. Good grief! (this is from the lady to proud to wear her readers and ordered " but square recipe") Thank you Bill for not feeding into her disgusting display of ill manners, and for replying respectfully regardless of Sigrid's obvious lack of proper raising. Avoid green, unripe acorns, as these are higher in … So, if drying is a good idea, the big question is, for how long? In some parts of Jordan, the whole seeds are eaten directly or can be roasted to be used as a coffee substitute." As you can see here, Native Americans crushed the acorn meats to make acorn flour. One day during breeding season, my wife and I estimated 40 to 60 males in our two Oak trees. Nuts and seeds make up as much as 95% of the eastern gray squirrel diet. Apparently a small vessel had ruptured within the pericardial sac and slowly bled, which gradually squeezed the heart and made it difficult for it pump blood. Squirrels are omnivores and so eat plants and animals. I appreciate the advice about the acorns I wasn't sure which one to let them try. Observing and participating in autopsies over my 40+ year medical career has taught me a thing or two about finding a cause of death. This misplacing of so many acorns (the seeds of oak trees), the study says, is likely responsible for oak forest regeneration. They won't eat a rotton or wormy acorn. They are not stupid, they have been made stupid by TV. As a new reader I was very happy to read about the Tannin in green Acorns (Possible) affect on my squirrels this time of year. Sep 12, 2012. July 2016 By your rationale it should then be concluded that M&Ms are toxic to children. I unfriended quite a few people once I became aware of what they were doing Thank you in advance for your clinical findings. If fruits or nuts are in short supply, squirrels won’t hesitate to eat small insects to satisfy their need for protein. May 2014 If it has weevils, they immediately eat the acorn. What do you know about the success of singleton rehabilitation to an autumn release. From what I see this is a sound hypothesis with scientific work-through. Squirrels will eat plants, seeds, conifer cones, acorns, fruits, fungi (mushrooms), tree and flower buds, roots and green vegetation including twigs and bark. What I don't understand for the life of me is why nobody happened to wonder "if this is true, if acorns are poisonous, how come there are so many squirrels? Has it occurred to you that the squabbles are over collection sites and dominance and not over your claim that it is the tannin? They bury red oak (Quercus rubra) acorns as winter caches, but eat immediately those of white oak, Q. alba (Smith and Follmer 1972; Smallwood and Peters 1986). 3) Squirrels can sprint faster than you. Grey squirrels feed predominantly on nuts as well as tree seeds of coniferous and deciduous species. Oak trees have greenish, inconspicuous female flowers that are wind-pollinated, One huge oak can drop up to 10,000 acorns in a mast year that you have to collect with an. Acorns have a tasty fat at the top and tannins—bitter-tasting chemicals at the bottom. There are over 90 species of oaks in North America, and all oaks have acorns. He also stated that the chemical makeup in the acorns have the potential to create a more aggressive behavior when consumed in extreme quantities.... as do M&M's. Thanks for writing! Squirrels are quite happy to eat nuts with or without the shell, indeed it’s the process of extracting a nut from its shell gives the squirrel exercise and a way of sharpening its teeth. There is no cure for ignorance other than education. It was uncalled for, hurtful, and had zero to do with the point she was trying to make. It is impossible to tell the species of squirrel apart from these remains. I would love advice on making sure I'm doing my best to make her transition to a wild squirrel optimal. Squirrels are mainly herbivores, meaning they eat plants. Garlic spray is also an excellent deterrent to keep off the hungry, brazen squirrels. If you watch, you will see that squirrels investigate several acorns before putting a “keeper” in their cheek pouches. I gave my baby squirrel of three months A A corn as I was seeing other squirrels eating them up and collecting them in the Yard he took the acorn as as he had a piece of gold and Nibbled away on it. 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