Just Trying To Get A Nut

In the past few days I've been somewhat seriously explaining the nature of some of the animals I meet along the way, but right now it's time to go back into Everyday Adventurer story mode. This story is about a friendly little fox squirrel I met while I was headed down to the lake.

This little squirrel was happily wandering around on the trail when I walked over. I kept my distance so he wouldn't run away, but he didn't really seem to mind my presence anyway. I didn't know what exactly he was doing, and I didn't want to interrupt him. He seemed to be sniffing all around the trail as if he was searching for something. Can you guess what it was?

He stopped a few times, examining things on the ground. But then he would quickly move on to his next little stop. He would only move along a short distance at a time before he checked out another little prize. Inch by inch, step by step, this little fox squirrel would creep along examining the ground for whatever it was he seemed to be searching for.

Then he stopped and looked up at me as if he wanted to let me know he knew I was there. Of course I didn't make a move at all! Even my finger that was holding down the shoot button on my camera was frozen so that the camera would continuously keep taking pictures. Let me tell you, I got plenty of shots of this little guy!

After deciding I was okay where I was, the squirrel went back to his jittery little search of the area. This time when he stopped to sniff at something, he seemed to take a little more time than he had every other time before. I knew it! He found something!

He quickly seemed to grasp something with his mouth, and began to seem to be chewing on his new little find. His little head was making very small little jerking motions as he gnawed away at his prize. Then as quick as a flash, his busy little hands reached out to where his face was, and he grabbed onto his little nugget.

 

Then finally he stood up to show off just what he had found. I'm sure you have already guessed what it was. No, that's completely ridiculous! Why would you think he had a toad in his mouth? It was a nut that he had! An acorn to be more specific. Acorns are one of the favorite foods of squirrels.

I always wondered if acorns were edible by humans. I never saw them in a store or market. Peanuts, walnuts, and cashews are everywhere, but no acorns. I decided to find out for myself, and I discovered that they are in fact edible, but it takes a little bit of work to do it. People do eat them, but I guess they must not taste as good to us as peanuts.

One of these days I'll have to do a whole post about acorns. My friend the squirrel seems to like them just fine. He likes them so much that he's willing to stand right there in front of me and eat one. He was mostly unconcerned with me, because he was just trying to get a nut.