The squirrels under my bird feeder don’t appear to be particularly choosy diners. They’ll chow down as many seeds as they can find and spend hours trying to figure out how to get into the feeder itself.
Despite this gluttony behavior, it turns out that squirrels have a discerning palate. As staff phenologist John Latimer notes in this week’s phenology report, red squirrels don’t just eat everything they see. They often feed on rose hips, but are picky about which ones. Some are devoured on the spot, while others are discarded after the first bite. Sometimes, they’ll not even take an exploratory chomp.
What guides their taste in rose hips? I don’t know, but I’m impressed by their restraint nonetheless. (Want to learn more about red squirrels? They also harvest, dry, and store mushrooms for winter!)
This week’s report doesn’t just cover the dietary preferences of local squirrels: you’ll also learn what to look for in November, hear about John’s unique experience with a pair of Bald Eagles, and how to mark asparagus plants now to harvest next spring.
Topics
- Introduction: (0:00-0:25)
- November events (0:25-3:42)
- Fall colors and leaf drop continue (3:42-6:59)
- Unique experience with Bald Eagles (6:59-8:27)
- Robins and worms (8:27-9:19)
- Goldfinches in winter plumage (9:19-10:09)
- Red squirrels’ discerning taste for rosehips (10:09-10:47)
- Asparagus glowing with color (10:47-11:02)
- Decreasing deer ticks (11:02-11:55)
- Election-themed phenology (11:55-16:13)
- Conclusion (16:13-16:40)
What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.
That does it for this week! For more phenology, <b>subscribe</b> to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
