DO red squirrels eat acorns?
It’s a question that has been asked by some Islanders after Winterwatch presenter Chris Packham told viewers earlier this month that, unlike grey squirrels, the reds turn their nose up at the nut.
Jersey is one of the few places in the British Isles where there are no greys, which are said to have been brought to the UK from the USA in the 19th century.
And many Islanders were surprised by Mr Packham’s assessment of our reds’ diet – as they were sure they had seen them tucking into an acorn or two.
Wildlife photographer Susan Warn has now come forward to clear things up – and has provided photographic evidence.
“I can confirm red squirrels do eat acorns,” she wrote on the Jersey Wildlife Facebook page. “They will only eat the white oaks, which are lower in tannins and have a nutty flavour.
“I have observed squirrels returning to the same oaks every year in early August to feast on unripe acorns only – the green ones (the ripe ones are the ones fallen on the ground and they won’t touch them).
“Squirrels will spend several seconds rolling the acorn into position, getting the broad end uppermost and then chip away at the shell before consuming the top half only and discarding the rest.
“They also cache acorns but will always remove the endocarp [inner membrane] first to prevent them rooting (otherwise the cache is useless to them). I have also seen them cache them up in trees and walls.”
