A  TALK ON THE WILD SIDE

                     BEAUTY  AND  THE   BEAST

                                               Barbara B Picon © 1999

WHILE GROUNDHOG DAY EMERGES BETWEEN THE WINTER SOLSTICE AND SPRING EQUINOX, WINTER IN THE NORTHEAST SEEMS PARTICULARLY LONG LASTING. HOLED IN OURSELVES, WE GAZE OUT ON THE RIGID FROZEN GROUND, NOW DORMANT ,IMAGINING THE FIRST TINTS OF GREEN -THE HARBINGERS OF SPRING.  UNDER GENTLE WARM BREEZES, OUR IMAGINATION DRIFTS TOWARD THE BOUQUET OF THE GOOD SWEET EARTH AFTER A  SUMMER RAIN AND PLANTING FLOWER OR VEGETABLE GARDENS..
THEN SITTING BACK TO WATCH OUR BOUNTY TAKE ROOT AND BLOSSOM.

HOWEVER ,GARDENING IS A HOBBY, WHICH BRINGS ON A HIGH PROBABILITY OF ENCOUNTERS OF THE WILD KIND ! DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOU WANT TO SHARE OR NOT, SAFE AND EASY METHODS ARE AVAILABLE

FOR MANY SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND INSECTS,PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS ARE A MAIN SOURCE OF FOOD AND ALSO PROVIDE SHELTER TO MANY SPECIES OF WILDLIFE. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ANIMALS NATURALLY ASSOCIATED WITH A SPECIFIC PLANT THAT COMMON NAMES HAVE BEEN GIVEN CORRESPONDINGLY SUCH AS :CEDAR WAXWING, PINON JAY, RABBITBRUSH, BUFFALOGRASS, DEERVETCH, AND DUCKWEED .(MARTIN / ZIM /NELSON 1951)

FOOD, WATER AND SHELTER ARE FUNDAMENTAL NECESSITIES OF BOTH PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE. FREQUENTLY THE SAME PLANTS THAT SERVE AS FOOD FOR WILDLIFE ALSO SERVE AS SHELTER. FOR EXAMPLE, THE RED PINE SQUIRREL CONSTRUCTS ITS NEST HIGH UP IN A MATURE PINE TREE WHICH DURING THE COLD SNOWY WINTER PROVIDES SHELTER FROM THE BLOWING WINDS AND THE PINE TREE CONES ARE THE MAIN STAPLE IN THEIR DIET.

SQUIRRELS ARE SCIENTIFICALLY CLASSIFIED AS GRANIVORE/ HERBIVORES MEANING THEY LIVE ON PLANT MATTER, PRIMARILY FROM TREES.

PLANT FOOD FOR SQUIRRELS INCLUDE:   

OAK, ACORNS ,HICKORY BEECH, MAPLE, BLACK WALNUT, HORNBEAM, PINE, BLACK GUM, FLOWERING WALNUT, MULBERRY, SWEETGUM, FUNGUS, SPRUCE, CHERRY, BLACKBERRY, TULIP TREE AND ELM.

GRAY SQUIRRELS ARE DIURNAL MEANING ACTIVE DURING THE DAYTIME AND IT SHOULD BE VERY EASY TO DETERMINE IF INDEED THEY ARE THE GARDEN CULPRITS AND NOT THE NIGHTTIME CREATURES SUCH AS RACCOON, OPOSSUM, DEER OR RABBIT.

FROM A GARDENER'S PERSPECTIVE SQUIRRELS DO LITTLE DAMAGE TO A GARDEN BUT ARE VERY GOOD AT DIGGING UP BULBS. WHEN A SQUIRREL IS SEARCHING FOR FOOD IN THE SOIL IT MAY DIG UP SOME BULBS OR ROOTS AND TAKE A COUPLE BITES BEFORE REALIZING THAT IT IS NOT EDIBLE. SQUIRRELS CAN DETECT FOOD BY MOISTURE UNDER THE SOIL BY SNIFFING AND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS THIS ABILITY HAS HELPED THEM SURVIVE. NOT ONLY HAS THIS ABILITY HELPED BUILD OUR FORESTS BUT ALSO KEEP TREES HEALTHY BY PRUNING AND EATING HARMFUL BUGS AND GRUBS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE INFEST A TREE AND CAUSE IT HARM. MANY PEOPLE FAIL TO CONSIDER WHEN THEY LANDSCAPE OR GARDEN THEY INADVERTENTLY TAKE OUT WHAT IS NATURAL IN THEIR SURROUNDINGS ONLY TO PLANT FLOWERS OR SHRUBS THAT ORIGINATED IN FAR AWAY PLACES THAT HAD THEIR OWN OPTIMUM CONDITIONS WITH THEIR OWN VARIETY OF WILDERNESS HELPERS USUALLY FOREIGN TO OUR OWN BACKYARDS.

PREVENTION IS SIMPLE

·  PLANT BULBS 6 INCHES DEEP INTO THE SOIL. SQUIRRELS DIG 2-3 INCHES DEEP AND RARELY DIG 3-4 INCHES OR BEYOND. WITH THIS METHOD, ANOTHER PLANT CAN BE SET OVER TO PROVIDE ITS ABOUT 4 INCHES DEEP. AS ONE PLANT FINISHES BLOOMING, ANOTHER BEGINS ALLOWING CONTINUOUS EYE PLEASING COLORS. MANY GARDENING SHOWS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THIS SUCCESSFULLY, ALTHOUGH MANY DIRECTIONS STATE BULBS SHOULD BE PLANTED 3 OR 4 INCHES DEEP.

·  MOISTENING GARDEN TOPSOIL. SQUIRRELS DETECT FOOD UNDER SOIL BY MOISTURE, AS I MENTIONED. KEEPING TOPSOIL MOIST DURING THE EARLY PLANTING SEASON NOW HAS A DUAL BENEFIT. IN ADDITION, SQUIRRELS BECOME CO-WORKERS AGAIN. ITS HARD TO DETECT BULBS OR ROOTS IF ALL THE AREA IS KEPT MOIST, AND THEY WIND UP AERATING THE SECTIONS WITH THEIR PAWS IN AREAS THAT WE CANT GET TO WITH OUR ACHING BACKS

PREPARE YOUR GARDEN TOWARD ATTRACTING WILDLIFE FOR MANY, IS A CHANCE TO STUDY THE WILD INDIGENOUS NEIGHBORS LIVING WITHIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

TREES OF COURSE ARE THE MAIN SOURCE OF SHELTER FOR SQUIRRELS. IN OUR AREA MAPLE AND OAK ARE THE TWO MOST POPULAR . GRAFTING AND HYBRIDIZING HAVE TRANSFORMED MANY DIFFICULT CHARACTERISTICS OF OAKS AND MAPLES INTO QUICKER MATURING SMALLER TREES AND BUSHES. AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE INSTEAD OF A PRIVET HEDGE—A MAPLE HEDGE WHICH WOULD PRODUCE SEEDS FOR FOOD, LEAFY BRANCHES FOR SHELTER AND NESTING AND PROVIDE US WITH A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF COLOR IN THE FALL. BERRY PRODUCING BUSHES AND PLANTS LIKE BLACKBERRY, RASPBERRY AND STRAWBERRY. NUT FRUIT AND DOGWOOD TREES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE IN DWARF SIZES AND ARE BOTH ATTRACTIVE AS WELL AS AN IMPORTANT FOOD SOURCE FOR WILDLIFE. WHEN PLANTING FRUIT TREES FOR WILDLIFE LOOK FOR LATE FRUIT SETTING VARIETIES, SINCE WINTER IS WHEN FOOD IS NEEDED MOST. ( SPIEGEL, H/M PERSONAL COMMUNICATION 1999 )

LIKE MOST MAMMALS, GRAY SQUIRRELS ARE GENERALLY OPPORTUNISTIC IN THEIR FEEDING HABITS. IN SPRING THEY OFTEN EAT A VARIETY OF BUDDING LEAVES, FLOWERS, AND SPRING TWIGS. DURING THE AUTUMN AND WINTER MONTHS, THEIR MAIN DIET CONSISTS OF BURIED NUTS AND SEEDS AND AT THIS TIME, THE SQUIRRELS READILY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE VARIOUS SPECIES AND EVEN PARTS OF ACORNS. ACTIVE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR THE SQUIRRELS STORE LARGE QUANTITIES OF SEEDS AND NUTS TO SEE THEM THROUGH THE LONG COLD WINTER. THESE CACHES AS THEY ARE CALLED USUALLY INCLUDE ACORNS OF SOME OF THE 32 OAK SPECIES THAT GROW IN THE SQUIRRELS RANGE IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. AN OAK SEED OR ACORN IS REALLY A FRUIT AND IS A PACKAGE OF CONSOLIDATED ENERGY.

SQUIRRELS CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS GARDENERS THEMSELVES.....
DR. JOHN GURNELL ASSESSES THAT GRAY SQUIRRELS CAN STRONGLY INFLUENCE THE DISTRIBUTION AND RANGE OF VARIOUS OAK SPECIES. INDEED, EVIDENCE IS ACCUMULATING THAT ALONG WITH THE HELP OF BLUE JAYS, SQUIRRELS ARE CRUCIAL IN REGENERATING SECOND GROWTH OAK FORESTS AND MAY EVEN HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREADING THE VAST STANDS OF OAK THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA AFTER THE LAST RETREAT OF THE GLACIERS 10,000 YEARS AGO.(STEELE / SMALLWOOD.94)

SQUIRREL RELATED GARDENING TIPS :    

PLANT BULBS 6 INCHES DEEP ANOTHER PLANT CAN BE PLACED ATOP . AS ONE PLANT FINISHES BLOOMING THE OTHER WILL BEGIN -SQUIRRELS RARELY DIG DEEPER THAN 2 -3 INCHES !

MOISTEN GARDEN TOPSOIL SQUIRRELS DETECT FOOD UNDERGROUND BY MOISTURE,BY KEEPING THE TOPSOIL MOIST THIS ADDS CONFUSION. THEY CANNOT DETECT BULBS OR ROOTS AND BY KEEPING THE SOIL MOIST HAS THE DOUBLE BENEFIT OF HEALTHY SOIL.

KEEP SMALL FRUIT AND NUT TREES NETTED :JUST TEMPORARILY WHILE FRUIT IS RIPENING AFTER THAT HOME NETTING

SAFE DETERRENTS TO USE WITH EDIBLE PLANTS :CAYENNE PEPPER AND BLOOD MEAL.

DETERRENTS TO USE WITH NON EDIBLE PLANTS :GET-AWAY (INTAGRA INC) CONTAINS CAPSAICIN AND OIL OF MUSTARD, ROPEL ,MOTHBALLS

WRAP BULBS IN CHICKEN WIRE: SQUIRRELS STILL MAY LOCATE BULBS BUT CANNOT EAT THEM.

SAFELY PLANT THESE HERBS:  BASIL, THYME, SAGE AND OREGANO, MINTS SUCH AS SPEARMINT, LEMON BALM. THE MINT WILL ATTRACT BEES WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL TO FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

TAKE PRECAUTION !! BLACKBERRY, RASPBERRY, MULBERRY ,STRAWBERRY, CHERRY ,ROSEHIPS, GRAPE, BEAN, TOMATO VINE, CHAMOMILE, HONEYSUCKLE, WOOD SORREL, BEE BALM ,TULIP( a favorite ) ZINNIA

SAFELY PLANT THESE FLOWERS :
DAFFODILS, CROCUS, NASTURTIUM, TRUMPET VINE, LILACS, HYACINTHS,   RHODODENDRON, AZALEA

            Happy gardening !

STEELE, M. & SMALLWOOD, P .1994. NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE: ARTICLE "WHAT ARE SQUIRRELS HIDING ?’

MARTIN, A./ ZIM,H / NELSON, A.1951 AMERICAN WILDLIFE AND PLANTS A GUIDE TO WILDLIFE FOOD HABITS

GURNELL , J. 1987 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SQUIRRELS

SPIEGEL, H 1999 PERSONAL COMM.