My 2lggd mom loves the nuts that fall on the ground all over our yard. She gathers them by the sackful. I like them too, but I just find them one at a time, and then crunch them up. Here we are looking for nuts.
My two kitties are not interested in the nuts. They only want to stalk the squirrels that eat the nuts.
The big pecan trees in our yard did not yield much crop last year, but this year is looking very good so far. The nuts on the several trees vary in quality. Some are very small and round, hard to crack, but extremely tasty. I don't bother with them; too much work. Others are large and oblong, papershells that can be easily cracked against eachother in one hand, with large sweet and juicy nut meats inside. These I collect for snacking.
Last weekend was very breezy, and I picked up many nuts off the ground. Tomorrow is forecast to be also very windy, and so the coming weekend should be good for collecting many more. Emma likes to crunch the nuts. I think she goes after the pecans that have already been partially chewed by the squirrels, because she can smell the sweet nut meat inside. Unfortunately, the sharp shells sometimes cause her digestive problems, and I find her barfing little chunks of shell during the night. I try to stop her from eating them, but I know it's quite pointless because the yard where she plays with her friend Buffy is strewn with them.
The cats are very social animals. When we walk around the yard, they keep us company. They are about 18 months old, and have become fairly good at catching mice, shrews, and young rats. They have been practicing stalking squirrels without much success. It takes some time for a cat to become an accomplished hunter, and they are just starting to get the knack. They caught their first squirrel (that I know of) last week. I have given them a pep talk about not letting those darn squirrels munch pecans with impunity. Even if they do not catch a squirrel, they should at least keep them on their toes, don't let them get too complacent. I don't begrudge the squirrels some nuts, really. I will leave all the small hard nuts on the ground for them and take the big papershells for myself, HA!
Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom
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