Maybe the animals know something about this winter that we dont?

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Michael6268

Michael6268

Minister of Fire
Nov 19, 2005
784
Grafton NH/Upper Valley
I dont believe in the usual tales about winter but we have some strange things going on at our house. First was the birds and squirrels have totally disappeared. We feed both regularly and normally have tons of both all through the year, but about a month ago they all but "disappeared". We went from spending a small fortune on food for them to nothing. Being an avid walker, I noticed this is the same throughout my area, and not due t o a stalking cat or something like that. Second is the stupid acorns. I have never seen so many acorns. I need a hardhat in my area they are coming down like rain. I think Ive totally killed my mower blade on those stupid things. Third is the "fuzzy caterpillars" are huge and a lot of them all over. And the weirdest thing I thought was yesterday I went to uncover the wood pile to let it breath between rainfalls and nestled in the pile in total hibernating state was a possum! A huge nest of leaves and totally hibernating. I have never known animals to hibernate so early. Has anyone else noticed any of this? Who knows if this means anything but it is something I have never seen.
 
Michael6268 said:
I dont believe in the usual tales about winter but we have some strange things going on at our house. First was the birds and squirrels have totally disappeared. We feed both regularly and normally have tons of both all through the year, but about a month ago they all but "disappeared". We went from spending a small fortune on food for them to nothing. Being an avid walker, I noticed this is the same throughout my area, and not due t o a stalking cat or something like that. Second is the stupid acorns. I have never seen so many acorns. I need a hardhat in my area they are coming down like rain. I think Ive totally killed my mower blade on those stupid things. Third is the "fuzzy caterpillars" are huge and a lot of them all over. And the weirdest thing I thought was yesterday I went to uncover the wood pile to let it breath between rainfalls and nestled in the pile in total hibernating state was a possum! A huge nest of leaves and totally hibernating. I have never known animals to hibernate so early. Has anyone else noticed any of this? Who knows if this means anything but it is something I have never seen.
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Same here. I filled the bird feeder at the beginning of September. I usually get two weeks between filling. At this point, there's only about 1/2 gone so they are either eating less or migrating south already. The year long birds they stay up here like finches, wood peckers and nut hatches are still eating less.
 
I've noticed the same thing in Southeastern ct.
 
north of 60 said:
All I know is that the geese are all flying south over our house as I type. Honk! Honk!
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Oh great. This whole area will be under three feet of goose crap in a couple of months. :mad:
 
Come to think of it...we haven't seen many squirrels either. Last year about this time I would have seen about 20 in my front yard...this year...none. Don't get me wrong, i have seen some around the area...but not an abundance like last year.

-Mark
 
We have lots and lots of birds and squirrels. No shortage here although the hummingbirds are now gone south.

Acorns are spotty here. Some spots have tons of them and we have very few. But that is usually the way with acorns. (I keep track because I am a deer hunter.)

As for the possum, I doubt he was hibernating; just sleeping and "playing possum." Those things are out and about in almost every month of the year. During the winter they might come out for a day or two and then right back to sleep. Same with coons.


No geese flying south yet but today some sandhill cranes went through.
 
Acorns are like machine guns here. They are exceptionally large and plentiful this year.
My kids collected 2 - 5 gallon pails already and there is prolly 3 more to get picked up. In a usual year I get about a pail and a half.
I have not noticed anything with the squirrels because my dogs keep them away.
 
Hurricane said:
Acorns are like machine guns here. They are exceptionally large and plentiful this year.
My kids collected 2 - 5 gallon pails already and there is prolly 3 more to get picked up. In a usual year I get about a pail and a half.
I have not noticed anything with the squirrels because my dogs keep them away.
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What do you do with the acorns after putting them in pails? If you keep them around, beware that the white oak acorns won't last long because the pails will soon be filled with worms which come right out of the acorns. Red oak acorns aren't so bad.

btw, deer will always go to a white oak before a red oak.
 
Might just be a bumper crop year. Nut trees like oak and hickory will sometimes have an exceptional year in terms of nut production. Not sure why but it sure is noticeable. Maybe the animals were full. :)
 
All of our acorns already went south. Rick
 
I know the Rabbits that we watch in the yard are gone. Havent seen no acorns but the squirells like bigger than normal. That could be from all the people food we throw out in the back woods.
 
Much more acorns than ever before. Hardly any apples. My wife has been commenting all summer on the lack of frog noise from our farm pond! First time in 14 years we haven't been serenaded by them at night. Hope it's not because of the new vinyard on the adjacent property.
 
Ditto to the michine gun with acorns. When I take my dog out into the woods, I need a hard hat!
 
Other than the unusually mild and wet weather we've had in TN, I haven't noticed anything different this year. I believe this is an El Nino winter coming up, which usually means milder temps and more moisture for us in the Southeast.
 
My dogs shed out fast and furious last month. Much more noticeable than other years. Must be they are growing in their coats earlier this year. ??

Poult
 
Animals are dumb as a stump as far as what the weather is gonna do. :lol: So are acorns.
 
Yea, it's all real strange. My woodpile for next year is already completely ready to go. Last year I didn't have my next-year wood pile done until November. That's almost two whole months early! Wonder what's goin' on with them humans.
 
ahh yes, the "wooly bear" caterpillers and such. i happen to follow the ideals of it to an extent. ive seen larger crops of acorn in falls preceding harder winters, i have noticed birds flocking earlier than normal as i did last year. personally im thinking we will (at least in my locale) have an earlier winter probably a longer one. mother nature isnt a dullard, i think she will provide when its needed, look at cedar trees which bear berries, ours local ones are loaded with em, last year they were as well, previous years there werent as many and we had mild winters. though not a "druid" im prepping for a hard winter. cant hurt being ready can it?
 
ControlFreak said:
Yea, it's all real strange. My woodpile for next year is already completely ready to go. Last year I didn't have my next-year wood pile done until November. That's almost two whole months early! Wonder what's goin' on with them humans.
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I'm coming down with the same thing, trying to hoard dry wood.
Could be mosquito-borne.
Wet Denial Virus.
 
We've had a few anomolies here, too. I'd love it if it were gonna be a wet, cold winter frought with snow. Late August we had a couple cool days, lately with the truckloads of rain we even go a dusting of snow at Mt. Baldi, elevation around 12,000ft........................................
 
stoveguy2esw said:
Backwoods Savage said:
No geese flying south yet but today some sandhill cranes went through.
Click to expand...


DUDE!!! post a picture! i'd love to see them
Click to expand...

If they would land I'd get a picture. These just flew over really low. They usually fly extremely high when migrating. These guys must have been looking for a place to land. Probably got scared out of some place because of early goose season.
 
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