Stan Suther's Real Estate and Stuff

While getting ready to head to work one morning recently, I happened to see some activity out in my back yard.  It was a frosty, sunny morning, and my neighbors were hard at work- my squirrel neighbors, that is.  One of the squirrels was under a big oak tree looking for acorns.  He (she?- hard to tell) was selecting from the bumper crop of acorns the very best ones, no doubt, and running over to where I have my rhododendrons planted.  There, he would look for a good hiding place, dig out a little hole, deposit the acorn, then cover it up with his little forepaws.  He then went back to the oak tree and started this all over again, a distance of maybe 30 feet.  Over the next few minutes, he went through the whole routine maybe 10 times.  Each trip was made with a big acorn in his mouth, the squirrel bounding over to the hiding area in great leaps, like it was important to get there as quickly as possible.  I’d never managed to see this process for such an extended time, but it was a lot of fun to see.  That little squirrel knew that his survival depended on finding the best acorns and hiding them where he could find them again, but not where others could easily find them.

After awhile, I noticed another squirrel standing maybe 10 feet from Mr. Workaholic.  The other squirrel just stood there gnawing on an acorn and not participating in the hunt.  At first, I thought that he maybe just the dumb one who wasn’t planning ahead.  Then it occurred to me that he was watching the first squirrel’s every move, INCLUDING WHERE THE ACORNS WERE BEING HIDDEN!  Could it be that I was witnessing the setup for a future squirrel rip-off?  Was that a little chuckle I heard from squirrel #2?

If only I could be there when those acorns get uncovered for dinner later in the winter to see who was doing it.  Of course, I think I might have a bit of a problem telling one from the other.  They all kind of look alike, you know.