ACCORNS

[dextersmom]

Hi,now that the accorns are falling from the trees,I have heard DONT give them to your squirrel. Than I hear you can as long as you place them into water and only give them the floating ones. Which is true? I dont want to give them because I Squirrles eat accorns,yet I look at accorns with fear...what should I do? Thanks

[island rehabber]

I personally feel that there is a lot of unnecessary panic about acorns because of an original -- and rather untrustworthy -- source, years ago. I have been feeding acorns to my rehab squirrels for over ten years without a single issue, and I was picking them up off the ground at a Stop & Shop parking lot for most of those years! Of course, cracked or holed ones were thrown right out, but honestly I never had a problem. I stored them on a tile floor in a cool room by a big sliding door so they were always in a dark, cool place. As for the worms that sometimes live in them, squirrels LOVE those things and eat them in the wild all the time.
I would not freeze them, however, and I would not store them in Ziplocs or any plastic bag for any length of time. They mold instantly when you do that.

Just my two cents.

[Nancy in New York]

Hi,now that the accorns are falling from the trees,I have heard DONT give them to your squirrel. Than I hear you can as long as you place them into water and only give them the floating ones. Which is true? I dont want to give them because I Squirrles eat accorns,yet I look at accorns with fear...what should I do? Thanks

There are so many other things you can give.
If you're worried about them, don't feed them. :w00t
Many people will cut them open to see if they are ok on the inside.
I don't have oak trees around me, so I don't feed them.

[dextersmom]

Thanks for sharing.