Weird Fact

[Lin Neiswender]

Here's a weird fact to ponder from a story here

"Other researchers have shown that when birds sing, they use areas of the brain analogous to those used in human speech. Researchers have also shown that birds not only dream, but they dream about singing."

Too cool- birds dream!

[Mary Hicks]

Very interesting! Thanks, Lin. You come up with the greatest information!

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on the deck and every now and then a small "newly-budded" end of a tree branch would land on the deck. I sat there trying to figure out how that tree was losing the tips of its branches.

Lo and behold, a few minutes later I looked up. There was a squirrel -- high up in the tree. He (it?) was breaking off the end of the branches, and very meticulously and methodically eating the fresh sprouts from the branch. DH and son came out to look - we were all so intrigued! Have you ever heard of a squirrel doing this? (I know you're going to research it and fill me in on all the gossip!)

[Lin Neiswender]

I never heard of them eating anything but nuts and berries, so you got me stumped! Maybe he just wanted some salad on the side, you know? A change from those greasy fries?

[Jules]

Wow. Birds dream about singing- rather than worms? That means that birds dream about what their spirit loves and requires rather than what their body requires...interesting indeed

[Jules]

Squirrels live in nests...was he just gathering housing 'lumber'?

[Lin Neiswender]

I forgot about that Jules. Maybe he was just doing a little Home Improvement!

[Mary Hicks]

No, he was eating the shoots on the tips of the tree branches - trust me!!

I just Googled 'squirrels eating trees' and this is the best answer I could find...


What do squirrels eat?

Most squirrels eat nuts, seeds, grain, and fruit. By far their favorite food would be nuts, followed by sunflower seeds. Urban squirrel have adapted to eat just about anything, including pizza, luncheon meats and all forms of snack foods. Squirrels have been known to eat bird eggs, but this is a last resort. When natural food is scarce, they will eat anything they can find.

Maybe I should put sunflower seeds out for them, just to keep them away from the trees. They are pests, and I don't like them. Squirrels rank right up there with pigeons, if you ask me!

I'll keep watching and let you know what happens.

[Lin Neiswender]

What kind of trees are they? Anything that has a seed pod at the end of the branch?

[Mary Hicks]

I'm not sure what kind of tree it is -- nothing extraordinary -- maybe just a young (10 yr.) ash tree? No seed pods anywhere. DH thought perhaps he (the squirrel) was eating the leftovers of the "pods" that the new leaves break out of. That would make sense -- but, then, it was a man's idea so I'm undecided.

:)0

[Lin Neiswender]

Don't know if it's the same tree or not but I found this:

Evergreen or shamel ash (Fraxinus uhdei), a beautiful ash tree native to Mexico and commonly planted in southern California. During the summer months it produces masses of slender, winged, one-seeded fruits (called samaras) that fly through the air like a squadron of miniature helicopters.

Maybe the squirrel was eating the helicopters!

[Mary Hicks]

I know exactly what kind of tree this is -- we used to call them "Whirlybird Trees" -- but that's not what this is. Good search, though!

Here's a picture of a cluster of helicopters!

[Jules]

We used to catch the 'helicopters' as they fell to the earth. Fairies rode on them, so if you caught it in air and placed it gently on the ground the fairy avoided a crash landing and you were granted one wish.
This is a fact that did not seem weird at all when I was a kiddie

[Jules]

Sunflower seeds? Give the poor guy a pizza like his city cousin gets