Exploding Acorns? (trees, squirrel, animals, summer)

[uggabugga]

i have a shed that's surrounded by mature trees, mostly oaks. this shed has a tin roof, and the acorns make a racket in the fall when they come smacking down from 60-70 feet up.

so i was surprised to hear, twice this summer, acorns crashing down on the shed roof. when i went to investigate, what i found were hundreds of green acorn fragments, not whole acorns. this has only happened during extremely hot weather.


anyone experience this before?

sorry, not the greatest of pictures..

[snofarmer]

Squirrels will eat some and discard the shells while sitting up in the tree. In your pic it looks like it's just the shell.
The squirrels will just cut them loose letting them fall to the ground then collect them up

[uggabugga]

Originally Posted by snofarmer

Squirrels will eat some and discard the shells while sitting up in the tree. In your pic it looks like it's just the shell.
The squirrels will just cut them loose letting them fall to the ground then collect them up

i suspected that, but i'm pretty sure it's not squirrels. i kept an eye on the trees above the shed for at least 20 minutes, and there was no squirrel movement at all. the pic is pretty poor quality, it doesn't really show that there are lots of developing nutmeats still intact.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

i suspected that, but i'm pretty sure it's not squirrels. i kept an eye on the trees above the shed for at least 20 minutes, and there was no squirrel movement at all. the pic is pretty poor quality, it doesn't really show that there are lots of developing nutmeats still intact.

Squirrels are also great at remaining motionless in a tree; if they suspect you are watching. As you approached the tree; they probably moved to the far side and waited for you to leave. Sometimes they will just flee if they see you approaching. They are pretty smart little animals – just try hunting them sometime.

As far as heat exploding things: The other day my wife and I were watching our one ducks with her new brood of eleven chicks. All of a sudden we heard a shot from under the sitting duck. One of her bad eggs exploded. It sounded like a .22 going off! The smell was lethal – or at least could have gagged a maggot!