Investment Strategies

From the looks of it, “Acorn Futures” at the bog, are up this year. It’s been a good year for acorns, with both Black and White Oaks producing large crops and “investment strategies” have been clearly on display.

Just the other day, when I walked down to the pond at the bog, I was treated to the “Surround Sound”, chipping of all the chipmunks that clearly suspected me of coming to threaten their stash. It was as though, as I walked, I tripped some laser beam in their security system, for new chipmunks would take up the scolding. In no time, the whole pond was ringing out with the non-stop sound of worried investors.


The “chipping” call they give is pretty amazing in itself. People who note these things have claimed that chipmunks can “chip” at a rate of 130 times a minute, and have been known to keep it up for up to 11 minutes! And fall is the time that you are most likely to get scolded, for they have worked hard to gather that stash and aren’t about to loose it now, for soon it will be their only food.

On that same day, just moments later, I watched a Blue jay flying from tree, to ground to tree again, to ground again, carrying an acorn in it’s mouth. Probably, it was carrying even more in its “carrying pouch” in its throat, trying to decide where to best “invest” its savings. It finally landed on the ground behind a fallen branch and buried them there.
Jays will store their caches in holes in trees, under bark, but also, I read recently, in the ground, which is what I was seeing. They dig small holes, then cover them up, even putting rocks, leaves or twigs on top to camouflage them. Who knew! For that matter, both jays and chipmunks could probably get a spot on some “hoarders” show, for with the jay, they have been known to stash 2,000-4,000 acorns in a given season, and chipmunks have been recorded as storing up to 6,000 nuts! Seems like a bit of overkill for an animal that only weighs a few ounces, but then, winter can be long and best to be prepared.

In my own yard, where I can’t seem to stifle my Italian heritage of “Mangi, mangi ”, I am constantly filling the feeders and setting sunflower seeds out, only to have them vacuumed up by the chipmunks in no time.
But then, to some degree, that’s the point, for I never tire of watching them climb into the seashell I have the seeds in, stuff those pouches full, then scamper off to stash them, and return for more. The irony is that at least some of the chipmunks seem to have found a way back into the house, and sunflower seeds occasionally rain down from the rafters, mere feet from where the seeds are kept in my house. Obviously, a lot of time and energy could be saved if they just helped themselves!


Likewise, with the birds I feed, my husband is often railing at me, for the jays, titmice, nuthatches, and woodpeckers, all hoarders of food, do a similar thing. They take the food from the feeder, than hammer some of it into the shingles, or any soft wood they can find. My husband was not a happy camper when, trying to fix some rotting wood under the windows, out spilled about a month’s worth of stashed sunflower seeds. Oops. You perhaps have a similar thing happening at your house. I guess that’s where aluminum siding might come in handy but here, in the land of Cape Cod weather- beaten shingles, the birds have a hay day.

Well, enough for now. Remind me in some future blog, to prattle on about the wonderful tunnel system set up by chipmunks and what you should watch for as they get ready to close up shop for the winter. Till then; see how many “security systems” you can trip, and how nervous the “investors” in your yard seem to be. They have more in common with you than you might have guessed!