by Winding Pathways | Nov 9, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Mammals, Nature
Update on Furless Tailed Squirrels
Even in winter, the squirrels’ fur looks healthy…except for their tails.
Two winters ago, we noticed squirrels with nearly furless tails visiting our bird feeders. Our blog about them on Winding Pathways brought hundreds of visitors. Some from other countries! Apparently, we weren’t the only people seeing these hapless animals.
Last winter we had almost no squirrels in the yard. We wonder if the malady that caused them to lose tail fur might have knocked their population way back.
This fall we’re seeing plenty of both fox and gray squirrels in our yard. Their populations have rebounded. And, they have long, furry tails! Squirrels make us happy. While many people don’t like them gobbling seeds at the feeder, we are OK with that and find them as fascinating and fun as cardinals, chickadees, and goldfinches.
Squirrels and the Derecho
Now three years since the disastrous derecho that felled thousands of trees in the Eastern Iowa area, we’re seeing the vital work squirrels do. In the wake of the storm, people planted thousands of trees. Then came three drought years. The National Weather Service placed Cedar Rapids into its exceptional drought category in 2023.
The drought killed many human-planted trees but the ones planted by squirrels are doing just fine. Thanks to them, baby hickories, walnuts, and oaks are poking through the soil in nearby woodlands and our yard.
This fall we’ve watched squirrels carry acorns and walnuts across the yard, dig frantically, and bury their treasure. These enthusiastic gatherers and diggers plan to return during winter’s lean months to retrieve dinner from underground storage. Fortunately, squirrels bury more nuts than they’ll ever need. Unfortunately for them, some of the furry hoarders die with their hidden hoard untouched to sprout in the spring. Squirrels are master tree planters.
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Squirrels at work.
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What happens when a squirrel falls?
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This squirrel planted walnut seedling sprouted just this year in spite of the drought.
American Ninjas in the Yard
An oak and a walnut live about 150 feet south of our back deck. Acorns and walnuts are epicurean squirrel delights, and our trees attract the furry acrobats. Squirrels like to use treetops as highways, jumping from one to the next. Our oak and walnut presented them with a problem. There is a several-foot gap between their branch tips. We are fascinated watching the squirrels make the long leap from twig to twig, sometimes leaping up to reach a branch on another tree, often while clutching a nut in its teeth. Their athleticism is astounding. So is their courage.
Squirrels fall. Twice we’ve seen one lose its grip and drop from the top of enormous trees. Both times the furry animals spread eagle their legs and tails while descending and hit the ground with a thump. They are shaken, rest, and then scamper off. A fall that would instantly kill a person, is hardly phased by the squirrels.
This winter we’ll again welcome squirrels to our feeders. They can dine on whole or cracked corn and cobs. We are assured of entertainment with their romps, athleticism and enthusiasm.
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Squirrel tails have many uses.
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It’s a long way down, Mom.
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Squirrels wolf down seed meant for birds.
by Winding Pathways | Oct 26, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Garden/Yard, Nature, Trees
Magnet bur oak in front yard
We didn’t intend to create a magnet when we planted a skinny bur oak in our front yard 13 years ago.
It created a startling experience one October evening when Marion went to the porch to check the weather. A large furry form dropped from the nearby tree and scurried away in the gathering darkness. A woodchuck? Not likely. They work the day shift. Later we caught the mystery animal in the bean of a flashlight as it returned to the magnet tree. A husky raccoon that again retreated in haste when it saw us.
Over the next several days we watched squirrels and woodchucks forage on the acorns. At dusk bucks and does with yearlings eagerly, yet watchfully, gobbled up acorns. In between, turkeys wandered by to forage. Blue jays dropped out of the tree onto the ground and carried off husky acorns to store for winter.
Why Oaks Attract Wildlife
Our October oak was a perfect magnet. While most area oaks were acorn-bare, our youthful front yard tree was loaded with them. They were huge, sweet, and free of the weevils that often consume acorns before exiting through tiny holes.
Blue jays, wild turkeys, woodchucks, raccoons, squirrels, and deer consider October acorns prime carbohydrate-loaded food. When few oaks, scattered around, bear a heavy crop, wild animals beeline to those loaded with nuts. That’s why our tree was a magnet drawing in a stream of wildlife until every acorn was consumed.
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Small oak and maple.
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Prolific Bur Oak acorns
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White oak acorns have lower tannic acid.
White oak types have leaves with rounded lobes. These include white, bur, and swamp white oaks. Their big acorns are low in tannic acid and are a prized animal and human food. Most trees only bear a heavy crop every few years with acorns that sprout almost as soon as they hit the ground. If not eaten soon weevils find them.
Black oak types have leaves with pointed lobes. Their acorns are loaded with bitter tannin. Often wild animals only feast on them after nearby sweeter white oak-type acorns have all been eaten. Black oak-type acorns wait until next spring to sprout. Perhaps their tannic acid helps them remain uneaten until they sprout months after falling from the tree.
Optimal Places to Plant Oaks
When planted in an ideal location with full sun and rich soil, an oak will begin producing acorns when it’s seven to ten years old. Our front yard tree had a light crop the past few years, but when it reached its 13th year it was loaded with nuts. It was a true magnet that lured wildlife in from far and wide. We enjoyed watching many animals dine on acorns produced by a tree we planted.
by Winding Pathways | Oct 12, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Preparedness
What To Do When No Room At the Inn?
Even bivouac camping can be comfortable.
Basic bivouac camping gear saved our night as we drove along a rainy Ohio Interstate.
We were returning to Iowa from a business trip in New Jersey. The 1000-mile trip is too far for us to make in a day so we normally plan to overnight in a comfortable motel in Ohio or Indiana.
On this recent trip, we didn’t make a reservation in advance, so Marion called motels ahead of us as Rich drove through pelting rain. Bad news. They were all booked for the night.
Bivouac Camping Saved Us!
Our basic bivouac camping gear saved us. Marion spotted West Branch State Park on the map. Not far ahead of us and near the Interstate, we exited just as the downpour subsided. Soon we enjoyed a hot dinner inside a restaurant near our tent.
Lightweight camping gear stashed on the sides of the car.
Although we weren’t on a camping trip, we always carry basic bivouac camping gear just in case we run into a situation like our recent one. Modern backpacking gear is lightweight, compact, and effective. It’s essential for a long trail trek but also takes up little space in the car and comes in handy should camping be necessary.
Here’s what we always slip into the car:
- Small nylon tent and ground cloth. Sturdy pegs (spikes or gutter nails are sturdy, don’t bend and so are useful to hold cords to tie a tent down.)
- Lightweight foam mattresses and sleeping bags.
- Folding chairs.
- Cooking and food gear that includes:
* Tiny featherweight butane stove and fuel bottle
* A few backpacking-type meals
* Basic utensils
* Matches! (Remember these!)
Cooking gear and dried meals fit in a small cardboard box and it’s easy to stash the other gear here and there in the car.
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Looks like a lot! It’s not!
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Essentials in box
The morning after our unplanned campout we woke well-rested, sipped instant coffee, packed up, found a breakfast cafe, and were soon back on the Interstate heading home.
A Note on Dried Food
Years ago, dried camping food was tolerable but hardly tasty. That’s changed. Modern foods are delicious. We keep two weeks of dried meals in our preparedness bin at home. Should we be impacted by a natural disaster we’d break out our camping stove and enjoy tasty meals. Although this food lasts for years we occasionally eat a few meals at home, on planned camping trips, and during emergencies. Then we restock with fresh meals. We have previously written about preparedness on our blogs.
by Winding Pathways | Oct 5, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading
Stuff and Clutter
Frank Lloyd Wright and Henry David Thoreau never met but would have agreed on clutter.
We recently toured Cedar Rock; a home designed by Wright near
Quasqueton, Iowa. Lilly, our tour guide, explained that the famous designer disliked garages and basements. “They gather clutter,” she said.
Thoreau once said, “Things are more easily acquired than got rid of.”
Acquiring Stuff
Modern Americans would have trouble living in a Frank Lloyd Wright home because there’s no place to store their acquired stuff. They’ve probably never heard of Thoreau’s wisdom.
As we drive around, we see open-door garages piled high with stuff – clutter, while an expensive car is parked outside in the weather. Inside, closets brim with rarely worn clothes. Sometimes we even see parked cars brim full of all sorts of rarely used things – stuff.
More Storage Means More Stuff
We’re amazed at the proliferation of rows of rented storage buildings. They seem to be everywhere. Probably they’re filled with items a family never uses but just can’t seem to part with.
If a family thinks they need something, odds are they’ve forgotten where it is. If they remember they may not be able to find it in the heap of clutter. And, if they can find it it’s likely broken or dated. So, people buy a new one that likely will eventually become more stuff tossed on the pile or crammed into a closet.
Clutter Strategy
Our clutter strategy comes from two sources: raising two kids in a garage-less 750-square-foot house, and, cleaning out others’ homes full of stuff. The rule was, that when something comes into the house, something must leave.
We like clothes, tools, and recreational equipment but if we haven’t used something in a while it goes. We can be ruthless in this. Only rarely have we thought, “Oops, we could have used that.” We also keep bins with emergency items that we recycle periodically.
Items we no longer use but are in good repair, we give away or sell. Broken and out-of-date items go to the landfill. Success is empty space in closets and drawers. The house is more tidy, spacious, and lighter. We easily locate what we need. Life is simpler. We find that in today’s consumer-frenzied life, both Frank Lloyd Wright’s and Henry David Thoreau’s wisdom is useful.
Good Yankee Saying
Words of Wisdom
by Winding Pathways | Sep 21, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Flowers/Grasses, Foraging, Nature
By September our thoughts and actions turn to autumn – fall sports, raking leaves, and cozy weekend campfires. For wildlife, especially pollinators late summer and early autumn are critical times to gather nourishment for migrations or hunkering down for winter’s scarcity.
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Foraging
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Feeding on nectar.
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Insects find flowers.
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Busy at work.
On our daily walks, often in the early morning to avoid late-season heat, we notice and appreciate late bloomers and nut abundance. Nectar is an important food supply for pollinators who busily forage among flowers. When the weather cools, pollinators are out later in the day as the sun warms the air. Remember, there is a “night shift” of pollinators, too, who need flowers to feed from.
Here are some late-blooming flowers we have seen on walks or that we nurture in our yard.
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cultivated flowers work, too.
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Roadside blooms are important.
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Color contrast.
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Some flowers prefer low lying areas to grow.
by Winding Pathways | Sep 7, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Chickens, Garden/Yard
What’s Egg Color Got to Do With It?
An array of jewels. Photo by Lisa Ramlo.
Are brown-shelled eggs better than white-shelled ones? Supermarkets sell all sorts of eggs. Brown or white shell. Free range or not. Organic. Vegan. Prices per dozen vary greatly. How is a consumer supposed to buy the freshest and tastiest egg?
We’ve been raising chickens for decades and have kept hens that lay white, brown, and even blue and green-shelled eggs. All are laid by birds of the very same species. The nutritional value of an egg is the same no matter what its shell color. Taste varies depending on how fresh the egg is and what the hen ate. It is independent of shell color.
Brown Eggs: Most supermarket brown eggs are laid by hybrid hens, often called ISA Browns. These were developed from the somewhat large Rhode Island Red breed. They may be raised in cages in enormous factory farms or come from a smaller free-range flock. Brown-shelled eggs may be free-range or organic……or not.
White Eggs: Almost all supermarket white eggs are laid by White Leghorn hybrids. They are smaller-bodied hens than brown egg layers and are commonly raised in cages in enormous chicken factory farms.
Blue or Green Eggs: Rarely seen in supermarkets, these beautiful eggs are laid by the Araucana breed or hybrids developed from them. These hens are common in backyard flocks.
Organic: If labeled organic the hens are supposed to have been fed feed raised according to organic standards. Eggs marked vegan or natural may or may not be organic. Be wary of vegan eggs, as hens are omnivores. If they encounter insects, worms or meat scraps they’ll readily devour them.
Cage Free: The hens that laid these eggs normally are crammed into a large building but are not confined to the tight space of a cage. They may, or may not, have access to the outdoors.
Free Range: This is tricky. Supposedly free-range hens have ready access to the outdoors, but there may be only a tiny outdoor run for thousands of hens to enjoy.
How To Tell If Eggs Are Fresh
Store-bought eggs are a pale yellow with runny whites. Fresh eggs radiate a golden hue centered in a firm albumen.
Nearly all egg cartons claim that the eggs inside are fresh, but what does that mean? They could have been laid six weeks earlier. To tell if an egg is fresh, fill a deep bowl with water and gently put an egg on the surface. If it sinks it’s reasonably fresh. If it floats it’s old. The reason is, a fresh egg has a small air cell. As it ages, moisture leaves through the porous shell and the air cell grows, making the egg buoyant.
The white, or albumen, of a fresh egg, will be relatively deep when cracked into the frying pan. It will spread out widely and be flat in an old egg.
How to Tell if Hens are Truly Pastured Raised
Most commercial eggs come from hens fed a specially prepared diet that provides all the nutrients they need but little else. The eggs will have pale yolks. In contrast eggs laid by hens with ready access to green vegetation will lay eggs with deep orange or yellow yolks. Some premium chicken feeds include marigold petals that impart deep color to the yolks.
Choosing the Highest Quality Eggs
It may take buying several dozen differently marketed eggs to find the freshest, tastiest, and most attractive eggs. Although the least expensive eggs usually come from factory farms, the best eggs aren’t always the most expensive. The very best will be fresh and have a boldly colored yolk.
For information on chicken breeds scan the Hoover’s Hatchery Website . For general information on eggs and recipes check out the website of the Egg Industry Center.
