Sunday, April 18, 2010

Mystery solved

So for the past several weeks, I'd been noticing these distinct shoots of grass, coming up here and there in the yard and in beds. Usually in groups of two and three. Inland sea oats, I wondered? But last fall I didn't notice any birds eating the seeds, the only likely way new grass could have spread. And to such "far away" places. Including the front yard. Our sea oats grow in one bed in the back yard.

Today, I pulled up dandelions, horseherb, wood sorrel and other unsightly plants in the yard. I decided to go ahead and pull up some of that grass. Well, mystery solved! Take a look............

Seems our resident eastern fox squirrels have been playing farmer. That's what they do, you know. They bury pecans, acorn, and other seeds for future meals. They actually remember where they plant everything, too. Only trouble is, some seeds germinate before they have a chance to go back and dig them up! Many trees species, particularly pecans, can thank squirrels for boosting their numbers.

We put out corn cob treats out for the squirrels. That's where the kernels came from. And now we've got corn seedlings growing in our Wildscape.

1 comment:

Kristin Lea said...

that is an awesome story! I love the way you see life!

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