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Asks Brez, a co-worker of mine. “They’re chewing holes in my plastic garbage cans! They devoured my Halloween pumpkins!”

I’ve noticed it too. I’ve got some ca-ray-zy squirrels in my yard this year. They hang upside down on the bird feeder. They’re tarzan-leaping from the trees onto the suet baskets. They’re hanging on the porch storm windows making goo-googley faces at our animals.

There are no nuts this year. Nothing. Na-da. None of the oaks dropped acorns.

At the Washington Post, someone noticed it too. This article called Acorn Watchers Wonder What Happened to Crop tries to explain why.

The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn’t find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head.

Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill.

Virginia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Michigan - all reporting no acorns. Experts thoughts range from a too wet spring to a fluke biological event that will go away. But no matter what the reason, it’s going to be a big problem for the squirrels this year. There will be fewer babies and unfortunately, many squirrels will starve.

Oh I know they can be a pain in the ass, but we need to help them out this year. Here are a few tips on feeding squirrels.

Have a feeding spot well away from your bird feeders and from the windows of your house.

You don’t have to buy fancy feeders for them, but, they tend to drag off food. So if you’re going to put out corn cobs, nail them to a tree or something.

What do squirrels like? Well, nuts for one. Try unsalted shelled peanuts or chestnuts.

Sunflower seeds. Especially the black oil kind.

Dried corn on the cob.

Cracked corn.

In fact, if I can get TV Boy in the right mood this weekend, I can get him to drag some cut tree stumps to the back yard near the woods for a squirrel feeding station.

So stay tuned. I might get this all set up this weekend. Cool. This might be my first step to a wildlife habitat out back.

After 40 years, the Indoor Display Gardens on the Doris Duke Estate (Duke Farms)are closing. On May 25th 2008, these beautiful displays are closed forever! The indoor gardens will be torn down in order for Duke Farms to move into the 21st Century - a more “Greener” future. Apparently the greenhouses are very old, not up to code, and very expensive to maintain. The only survivors will be the orchids of the Edwardian garden. They will be moved to a different location.

The Duke Foundation has decided to refocus the estate to an environmental showcase and learning center, as well as a giant park for visitors with some outdoor display gardens. You can read the Foundation’s Press Release here.

It is very sad for me. I used to work for Duke Farms in the 70’s during high school and college. I made sure I got there to see them before the very end, and I took LOTS of pictures. To view my picture slideshow of Duke Gardens, click
here.