Where Have All The Acorns Gone?

Up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States a perplexing problem has arisen. There are plenty of leaves from oak trees, but very few acorns. This has scientists baffled as to what happened to the acorns.

In far-flung pockets of northern Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other states, scientists have found no acorns whatsoever.

Louise Garris, who lives in the Oakcrest neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, first noticed the mysterious phenomenon early this fall when doing yardwork beneath a canopy of large oak trees.

"I have lived in the area my entire life and have never not seen any acorns!" she said. Garris checked with some local plant nurseries and they confirmed her observation.

The mystery has found its way to the Internet, where a "No acorns this year" discussion on Topix.com yielded more than 180 comments from people reporting acorn disappearances as far away as Connecticut and North Carolina.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" posted a resident of Maplewood, New Jersey. "Now we are finding dead squirrels! SHOULD WE ALL BE CONCERNED?"

Not necessarily, naturalists say. Last year Garris reported a bumper crop of acorns, which scientists say may be one clue to this year's scarcity. Virginia extension agent Adam Downing said acorn production runs in cycles, so a lean year is normal after a year with a big crop.

"It fits with the physiology of seed reproduction. The trees are exhausted, energy wise, from last year," Downing said.

Maybe they should have given the trees a large dose of Viagra. Viagra claims to restore reproductive energies.

But even he is surprised at the complete absence of nuts in parts of Virginia.

They are actually hiding. Trying not to let the world know that they voted for Obama.

At the Long Branch Nature Center, calls and e-mails have been pouring in from people who want to donate acorns they've gathered in areas where they are plentiful.

It's also hard to think of acorns without thinking about squirrels. What happens to them when their favorite food disappears? Some Eastern Seaboard residents have reported seeing skinny, aggressive squirrels devouring bird feed.

"Especially in the depths of winter, there's not much else for the squirrels to eat. Some may switch their diet, many others probably won't make it," said Abugattas. "Squirrel and deer numbers will almost certainly go down."

But Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, said that wild animals can be resilient when their usual food sources go away.

Inkley cited a blight that destroyed 3.5 billion American chestnuts from 1900-1940, wiping out a common food source for squirrels, deer, mice and wild turkeys. But those animals adapted and survived, he said.

Barbara Prescott, a wildlife rehabilitation expert, agreed that squirrels are not fussy about their diet. She suggested that residents leave whole (not crushed) corn, peanuts and sunflowers in the seed as backyard treats.

John Rohm, wildlife biologist for Prince William, Loudoun, Fairfax, and Arlington counties in northern Virginia, has faith in the furry population.

"Animals are resourceful," he said. "If they're hungry, they're gonna find something to eat."

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I know that this really isn't a humorous issue. If things continue this way, we might find Oak trees going extinct in that part of the country.

Or it could just be one of those years in which the trees were exhausted and the weather conditions didn't cooperate.

Or we just might have found our true culprit (see below):

Could this little one be responsible for all the Acorns going missing?