Pine Cones......

[FallensMommie]

I never knew what part of the pine cones squirrels ate.....as although the pine cones would be shredded...I saw the evidence that the shredded off parts laid spew all over the ground. Last night I finally got to witness what a squirrel actually eats off of those cones.

Fallen hopped down from the closet and found something but I had no idea what he had and had to investigate. I picked him up and he started whining. I'm like this better be something good as this squirrel is crying at the prospect that what he found is going to be taken away....it was a pine cone seed...one of those spinner seeds that are in between the layers of the pine cones.

So I sat there peeling the seeds from the pin cones, and Fallen is on my leg eating them as fast as I can pull them loose. He normally does this on his own, but I enjoyed our time together and I know this is just another factor in our trust relationship as he see's one of his favorite goodies being handed to him by me. He went ga ga over these seeds......and they are good in Vit C....I'm not sure what other vits. or minerals they are good for but I'm sure they provide other nutrients than just the Vit C. :wott Well a good source for gnawing for their teeth as well.

[Snipe]

Any foods that they would normally get in the wild are probably a treat to him and of course if Mom is gonna sit there and do all the work and shuck them it probably makes it taste better too

[FallensMommie]

Lol.....He can shuck them after this! I just made a discovery and wanted to enjoy in the awwww of it and I love doing things here and there to keep that trust built between us.

He's lazy with his nuts so I surely dont want him to become lazy on his pine or magnolia cones. He works those pine cones though....goes straight up to the closet and shreds them up there with falling pieces all over the place Makes cleaning harder amongst the closet stuff

[wheezer]

I knew about the seeds inside the pine cones from watching squirrels devour them! So when I would collect them for my squirrels, I would always check to see if the seeds were still in them. Many are "seedless" already (they fall out). Samantha too, went crazy for them

Glad Fallen had a good time with you eating them

[jfischer]

I have alot of pine trees in my yard with pine cones still attached way up in the tree.

Can anyone tell me when the pine cone season begins. Can'f find any seeds in these. Maybe they are last years.

[muffinsquirrel]

Pine cones will open and close according to the weather - wet, they close...dry and sunny, they open. I try to get them while they are still green in color. My wild squirrels are very good about sharing - sometimes they will drop one and I can get it for the indoor squirrels. We have had some winds these past couple of weeks, so I have been able to store up several plus give some out for immediate eating. So my squirrels are happy and my house smells like Christmas!

muffinsquirrel

[tatcat]

i have been feeding tweakerz pine cones and he loves them also...i also put oak branches in his cage and he goes crazy for them...

[SquirrelsOfWestwood]

I bought pine nuts for my wild squirrels and they didn't even touch them. Perhaps they prefer them inside the pine cones. It is fine with me though. A small bag of pine nuts costs a fortune.

[FLUFFYTAILNUT]

bean doesnt like them..hed prefer to have the ga pecans...lol

i love the bonding moments you are having with fallen '
there isnt anything..more loving..than when you..can...'have moments' alone with your sweet love...fallen.

have a great night..
rachel n bean

[Girl Squirrel]

You can buy the pine nuts at places like Walmart & Kroger fairly cheap but my guys would never eat them. They prefer the ones in the shell, the ones that are much more expensive. My local pet store would order them for me but he went out of business, so now I will order them online at Nuts Online and add the price of shipping to the cost of them.

It’s either the thrill of opening up the nut or knowing it’s fresh but my squirrel just love them, especially my foxes. It is their one delicacy.

[secretsmom]

I thought pinenuts are no so good because of their high phosoporus content??

[TinyPaws]

Good point...

I thought pinenuts are no so good because of their high phosoporus content??

[FallensMommie]

Yes secretsmom is CORRECT!

For those that dont understand why:
Pine Nuts are one of the of nuts due to the very high phosphorus to calcium ratio. They will deplete the calcium from the squirrels bones due to the high phosphorus in them.

[Sciurus1]

I think you are talking apple and oranges here, for pine seeds, and what you buy at the store, called PINENUTS, are different, the latter known as Pignollis, an Italian pinenut. Not sure what is their full range in Europe, or even if squirrels in Europe eat them or not. I am not sure whether they are cultivated in the US, or other places besides Southern Europe. I do know that seeds from the cones of coniferous trees, found in North America, differ greatly from Pignollies. For one thing, for they are just a dry little seed, not the meaty nuts Pignollis are, not having the high water and fat content they do either! I do know that pine squirrels eat the seeds of pine and fir trees, which is much of what their diet is made up of, so I don't believe they are bad for them then. As for the Pignollies, I agree, they are not good food for our N. A. squirrels.

[secretsmom]

I think you are talking apple and oranges here, for pine seeds, and what you buy at the store, called PINENUTS, are different, the latter known as Pignollis, an Italian pinenut. Not sure what is their full range in Europe, or even if squirrels in Europe eat them or not. I am not sure whether they are cultivated in the US, or other places besides Southern Europe. I do know that seeds from the cones of coniferous trees, found in North America, differ greatly from Pignollies. For one thing, for they are just a dry little seed, not the meaty nuts Pignollis are, not having the high water and fat content they do either! I do know that pine squirrels eat the seeds of pine and fir trees, which is much of what their diet is made up of, so I don't believe they are bad for them then. As for the Pignollies, I agree, they are not good food for our N. A. squirrels.

What I have always understood is that pignolis and pine nuts are one in the same. Pignoli is simply "pine" in italian. There are many kinds of pine nuts because there are many species of pine trees. I purchased siberian unhusked pinenuts for my douglas squirrel, much cheaper than the ones you buy in the grocery store. Pine nuts come from the underside tip of pine cones, they are the seeds. I am thus going to assume if pinenuts are too high in phosporous for squirrels it doesn't matter what species of tree they come form?

And Sciurus, you are so right, squirrels eat the things like crazy!(cept Secret,of course,he rarely touches them and I have lbs of them left from Moxie) On one hand we are told they will eat what they feel they need to keep healthy, wouldn't that work in reverse-they wouln't eat what would make them unhealthy? It is all so confusing

In other words if they are so unhealthy wouldn't we have a bunch of really unhealthy squirrels that live in the wild beacause they thrive on them, or is it simply our pet squirrels that could have a problem with them? hmmm?

anybody????

[FallensMommie]

The pine nuts we see in stores are of different species than what pine seeds Fallen is eating. The pine seeds he is consuming are edible, but are too small to be of value as a human food. I don't know your answer but I do know pine nuts is the highest nut for protein. Beings our wilds eat the pine cones I'll stick to those instead of the larger variety of what we see in the store....plus to find the seeds in the pine cones they have to work and chew through it which is good for the teeth ...other than that

[secretsmom]

Us squammys worry too much, but if we are going to own the little fur balls I think we are responsible to do the best job we can! That's why the squirrel board is such a great place to get different opinions and idea.

By the way, love your new signature Teresa and Fallen!! Very cute and festive.

[jfischer]

I now have some green pine cones on my trees.

Can anyone tell me how many can we give our squirrels daily? My Squirrel is 10 months, and weights 18 ounces.

I also have pecans on my tree still in their green shells. My husband tells me that he sees the wild squirrels eating them. (1). Can I give my squirrel some of these as well and (2). If I give them to Peanut, will it count as towards the limit of what they are allowed.

[Sciurus1]

I would say one or two a week at most if they aren't a pine squirrel. Again, the pignollies are far more fat than rufage, far higher in calories than native North American Species' pinenuts. I read on our board somewhere that they high in phosphorus, not calcium. Considering then that any squirrel in the wild has a very varied diet, mostly of plants, nuts are eaten then in season, and good to bulk up on for winter. In captivity, pignoillies for example, should not be given to a squirrel liberally, but only occasionally, if they have no issues with MBD. Feeding too many high calorie foods to a Squirrel, and not giving sufficient greens and block, makes for an imbalanced diet, and poor heath.