TEXAS, USA — Crunch, crunch, crunch. That's what it sounds like walking through my front yard and over my driveway. What's making the crunching sound...Acorns! An overabundance of them. They are cracking under the weight of my feet and the wheels of my car. What does that have to do with the weather? Let me explain with a question.
Do you think nature can predict an upcoming season? A hot, dry summer or a cold, snowy winter? For years, I've counted the number of acorns produced by oak trees in my yard. It may be a coincidence but in the years I've found an overabundance of nuts, there has been above-average snowfall.
The tree experts will tell you trees aren't predictive, they're reactive. So trees don't tell us what's going to happen, they merely respond to what's happened. That's why, I was told, in years of drought, trees won't produce any acorns or will produce very few. But wait a second. What about this year?
We just witnessed the second hottest summer on record in East Texas and we went almost two months without any rain and at one point, most of East Texas was in severe drought. So if trees were reacting to those conditions then explain acorn numbers this year.
Maybe nature knows what's coming. Maybe nature provides more nuts so squirrels can bury the acorns to get through a cold, snowy stretch in the winter. Did you know squirrels have a sixth sense when it comes to where they bury their food? They can go right back to the patch of ground and find those acorns weeks later. Amazing!
Anyway, you've heard of wooly worms predicting the winter. The blacker the wooly worm, the harsher the winter? Or persimmon seeds? If you crack one open and the seed is the shape of a spoon, it means you'll be shoveling snow. If the seed is shaped like a fork it will be a warm, dry winter and if it's knife-shaped then it will be very cold. So why not watch the squirrels, track their behavior, and see if they have any clues about the upcoming winter
The squirrels in my yard have been busy burying nuts. But there are still lots left on the ground. Judging by this lack of commitment to stashing nuts for the winter, I'd say any kind of wintry weather is still several weeks away or the squirrels are telling us, if it snows this winter, it won't stick around very long. A
At any rate, let's keep an eye on our furry friends and when these rodents get to digging more then maybe it's time for us to dig out our warmer clothes. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide whether this forecast can be trusted or if it's just nuts.
