Community Chat

[route 7]

N.J. here and aside from the weather almanac there is a saying that if the squirrels tails are bushy in fall it will be in harsh winter. I see bushy tails!! Anyone here see the same?

[Marp2]

I'm not in NJ but our squirrels have very bushy tails already and the few wooly worms/wooly bears I've seen are almost all black, just very narrow bands of cinnamon.

My animals started heavy shedding of summer coats almost a month earlier than normal and the hummingbirds are already well on their way to reaching migration weight.

[faeriemoon]

My hickory trees started dropping nuts in August.

Does that mean anything?

[sylviahomeatlast]

Our leaves are falling and the aspens are gold already. I don't really know what all that means. Tomorrow cold and light snow is predicted here and the mountains.

[Clover29]

Aren't all squirrel tails bushy at this time of year? They're kind of skinny and rat-like when they're new young kits, and then their tails "come in" ready for keeping them warm in the winter.

[sylviahomeatlast]

On 9/11/2014 Clover29 said:

Aren't all squirrel tails bushy at this time of year? They're kind of skinny and rat-like when they're new young kits, and then their tails "come in" ready for keeping them warm in the winter.

that makes sense---

[Clover29]

Another thing: squirrel moms "bequeath" their best territory to their babies. The adults are better able to find a new hunting ground, and the babies have the best chance of survival in an established good source of food.

So the squirrels you see in your yard are more likely to be this season's babies, whose mom showed them your birdseed feeders, while she goes into the woods to forage. Then those babies grow up, and have their own babies who in turn inherit your feeders.

Endless supply of growing baby squirrels with thin-to-bushy tails.

[terrier3]

I saw a squirrel a few mornings ago with no bushy tail at all. It was about 5AM and was moving kind of slow.

Never mind, it was either a large mouse or a small rat!!!! Walking down my street and not paying any attention to traffic either!

[sylviahomeatlast]

On 9/11/2014 Clover29 said:

Another thing: squirrel moms "bequeath" their best territory to their babies. The adults are better able to find a new hunting ground, and the babies have the best chance of survival in an established good source of food.

So the squirrels you see in your yard are more likely to be this season's babies, whose mom showed them your birdseed feeders, while she goes into the woods to forage. Then those babies grow up, and have their own babies who in turn inherit your feeders.

Endless supply of growing baby squirrels with thin-to-bushy tails.

I like this a lot----fun fact.

[hckynut]

They say the same thing around here about racoon coats and their thickness. We've got tons of them around our property and I have yet to see a winter when they don't look twice as big as they did in the warmer weather.

Now if I used that to predict the winter? I would be so good I would apply for a weatherperson opening with one of our radio or tv stations. Couldn't be any worse at predicting than these people.