LOTS of Maple twigs get cut by hungry squirrels

Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:29:41 -0400
From: Marina C Long
Subject: Re: Chatham Chatlist #3705

[picappgallerysingle id=”7532527″]Subject:  Mystery Noise.   Reply to Lyn Hicks about mystery noise:

I don’t know if the crackling sound you hear is related to the cut Maple leaves you see all around.  However, at my house, LOTS of Maple twigs get cut by hungry squirrels.  I’ve watched them go to the very tips of Maple branches to get to the seeds that are growing out there, but in order to avoid even more outrageous acrobatics, they just clip the whole end of the branch and then retreat up-branch to pick off the seeds more comfortably.  They leave a carpet of cut maple leaves behind them.  However, I haven’t seen our maples suffer much.  They just seem to grow very slowly, and maybe we’ve discovered the reason why.