Black walnuts pave the road and the yard now. They start falling in early September carpeting the ground with leaves, twigs and nuts. Squirrels and black walnuts go well together.
There were lots of squirrels here when we moved here. Then all of them moved out leaving us with a pile of unused walnuts for years. Now the squirrels are back for a crop that would feed several times the squirrels living here.
Black Walnuts
These are not the tepid nuts sold in the store. Black walnuts have a strong flavor, if you can crack the shell. Regular nutcrackers do not even make a dent.
There are special nutcrackers available. I resorted to a hammer. It takes a very long time to crack a cupful of nutmeats.
Squirrels have tough teeth. They toss off the hull and start gnawing. Rodent teeth, squirrels are rodents, grow constantly so these lucky ones wear theirs down getting to the tasty stuff inside.
Walking Problems
Black walnuts are round and hard. Walking from place to place with them underfoot is not easy. Picking them up is back breaking work.
However, I do pick them up in the areas we walk frequently and deposit them elsewhere. Squirrels and walnuts can meet up there.
There is also a running battle in my garden. A big tree drops part of its leaves and walnuts in my garden.
Unfortunately black walnuts produce juglans, a form of plant chemical warfare. That part of my garden will not grow tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, beans and some greens. The squash and pie pumpkins do fine.
Squirrels and Black Walnuts
Squirrels are fiercely territorial. This is why so many get hit on the roads.
A squirrel runs down the road to get a walnut. A car comes. The squirrel can’t run off the road as the resident squirrel will attack. So the poor squirrel must run back up the road to its own territory before being able to get off the road.
There are several black walnuts along our road dropping nuts on the road. I kick them over to the edge so the squirrels can stay off the road. Then I can continue to watch the squirrels and black walnuts for the fall.
There’s more about black walnuts and squirrels in “Exploring the Ozark Hills”.