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Hi Dave,
Red Squirrels have no trouble with Black Walnuts and they are a lot tougher than butternut. For walnuts, which I'm most familiar with, they gnaw off the husk at the tree and then carry the nut to a hoarding location. They will gnaw into each hemisphere of the nut and consume the nut-meat at their leisure at the hoarding site.
I got a 'wonderful' first person experience with their hoarding of walnuts when my clothes dryer stopped working and we pulled over 60 nuts from the machine that had jammed the drum. The squirrel had gotten around both hardware wire and a one way baffle on the outside exhaust port of the dryer and run up the exhaust tubing into the machine.
All the best,
Lance
Lance Laviolette
Glen Robertson, Ontario
-----Original Message-----
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of David & Alison Webster
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 6:02 PM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: EXTERNAL: Re: [NatureNS] Butternut seedlings
Thanks Lance,
We do have a Red Squirrel that more or less lives here. If I find a fruiting Butternut within Squirrel distance then that will be the solution.
I wonder how a Squirrel would get at the nut ? It would be a tough chew but possible I suppose.
In Davis, California I once heard a very shrill but faint shrieking sound at dusk which turned out to be a mouse gnawing at a Wild Walnut shell.
Dave W.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Laviolette, Lance" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 11:44 AM
Subject: RE: [NatureNS] Butternut seedlings
> Hi David,
>
> In the area around my farm in eastern Ontario Butternut trees are
> found naturally. Most are in rough shape due to Butternut canker but
> they persist and produce nuts in spite of this. From my observations
> I'd say that Red Squirrels are the most likely vector of distribution.
> I've seen them moving and hoarding both Butternuts and the larger
> Black Walnuts, husk and all, around my front yard. I haven't seen
> seedlings in my yard however so either they don't survive the disease
> or none of the nuts survive the squirrels' hunger.
>
> My neighbor told me that before Butternut became a scarce tree, his
> mother used to gather the nuts and use them in her baking. Presumably
> in the same way that walnuts or pecans are used. Anyone have a recipe for butternuts?
> Butternut 'squash' is the only ingredient I was able to find on the
> internet.
>
> All the best,
>
> Lance
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
> [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]
> On Behalf Of David & Alison Webster
> Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 7:25 PM
> To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
> Subject: EXTERNAL: [NatureNS] Butternut seedlings
>
> Dear All, Oct 27, 2015
> Over the last 3-4 years I have been seeing Butternut seedlings in
> the yard; some new ones every year and most in the vicinity of a large
> Ash tree.
> I have yet to see any animal carrying the nuts so I continue to wonder
> what agent moves them. Some 6-8 children play in nearby yards and they
> might move them but I can't see this happening year after year. To
> judge from the droppings on the tiers of wood, and excavations at the
> base of an old-growth compost heap, our yard is Raccoon Central but
> surely a Raccoon would not try to eat a Butternut.
> One of the Western Woodpeckers (Acorn) has a slick way of eating
> the elongated Acorns of some western Oak species. It drills a hole in
> a tree just large enough to hold an Acorn, shoves one in the hole
> pointed end first and then eats the insides after pecking the proximal
> end away. More often they drill many holes in a tree and store Acorns for off season use.
> We have Hairy Woodpeckers in and out of that Ash tree many times
> per week (10-20 ?) so I am wondering if they sometimes use or try to
> use the sharp crotch of Ash branches to hold a Butternut so they can
> peel the husk away enough to open the nut.
> I tried eating Butternuts some decades ago and, drawing on memory,
> the husk is readily removed after leaf-fall and the meat is rich and
> good to eat without any treatment.
> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>
>
>
>
> -----
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> 10/28/15
>
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