NOTE: I posted this on 11/29. I got quite a few comments that I was "nuts". The following link is to an article that appeared in the New York Times on 12/3. I may be crazy, but I'm not nuts. I'm just ahead of the news....
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/nyregion/boom-and-bust- in-acorns-will-affect-many- creatures-including-humans. html?_r=1&hp
I’m sick of the markets. If you want some erudite comments on the latest eco crap or some deep thoughts on when the EU will tank, go elsewhere today. I've got nothing erudite to say. So something different this A.M.
I live about an hour north of NYC. Not far from one of the big reservoirs. There is a lot of protected watershed property. Much more woods than people. I have all sorts of critters around. It’s not unusual for me to see a half-dozen deer on the lawn in the morning. There are flocks of wild turkeys. There are dozens of both black and white squirrels. Chipmunks everywhere. All these animals are dying.
I’ve been aware of something going on for about a month. This is not the first time that a mass death of animals has happened. Some years ago we had a rabies epidemic. It quickly moved from one animal group to another. It damn near wiped out the raccoons, skunks and possums. As the kill of these animals progressed varmints came in to clean up the dead. In just a few years the coyote population exploded. But nature had its way (as it always does). As they coyotes ate the diseased carrion they too became sick and died. The cycle ended when the animals all died. For a year or so it was safe to put garbage out at night because the coons and skunks were gone. When the small animals died the big ones who ate them moved on. The coyotes left and folks started letting the cat out at night again.
The coyotes are back this year. I’ve heard them at night as they form packs to kill weak animals. They howl a horrible noise to scare their prey into confusion and fear. This time it’s different. Different animal groups are affected. It’s not rabies that’s the problem. The animals at risk don’t eat meat.
I didn’t think much of this until I happened to have a conversation with the fellow from Ecuador who was cleaning up my leaves. He says to me:
"No frutos secos esta anos."
I walked away thinking to myself, “No nuts?”
It took me a bit, but I finally got it. There are almost no acorns this year. No big healthy ones at all. The ones that you might find are the size of a pea. They contain no food, they’re just husks. And that's why the animals are stressed and the coyotes are back.
If you Google, “Missing acorns” you will see that there are chat rooms from garden types who have made note of the acorn issue. It seems to be contained in the North East this year (there is no actual data.) While looking around on the topic I found this interesting (and a bit eerie) article from 2008 in the Washington Post.
The same thing happened around the D.C. area 3 years ago. From the article:
The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. "We're talking zero. Not a single acorn. It's really bizarre."
A naturalist in Maryland found no acorns on an Audubon nature walk there. Ditto for Fairfax, Falls Church, Charles County, even as far away as Pennsylvania. There are no acorns falling from the majestic oaks in Arlington National Cemetery.
Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. This year, experts said, many animals will starve.
Some of the scientists made light of the 2008 development:
"What's there to worry about?" said Alan Whittemire, a botanist at the U.S. Arboretum. "If you're a squirrel, it's a big worry. But it's no problem for the oak tree.”
Sure enough the next year acorns came back to Virginia. But obviously three years later the same thing is happening in a different region. Back in 08 the thinking was “Why worry”. But the thinking was also, “If this happens again we have something to worry about.”
"But if this were to continue another two, three, four years, you might have to ask yourself what's going on, whether it is an indication of something bigger."
Well, it’s happened again. We shall if there is anything to this. I suspect this might get broader attention in the media. It’s too weird not to get noticed. Anyone else missing their acorns this year?
Now you can go back to the stupid markets.
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This is happening in Chicago area, too. Zero acorns this year(~20 miles straight north of the Loop). Usually we are trampling them on every sidewalk, smashing them in the driveway.
ReplyDeleteWe're experiencing a climate dislocation.
Bruce, I'm off topic but it is time I said "thanks". You're financial writing is terrific. It is "must read" stuff for me and I am gratefu that you are doing it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that... I too have no acorns this year and I live in Virginia. That said, the squirrels here are fatter than ever, and are eating walnuts, and anything else they can find.
ReplyDeleteFamine and pestilence are a result of you know what.
ReplyDeleteI am sharing this post of yours. Another thing to care about besides the markets indeed. I am so sorry. But remain compassionate and as fear-free as possible. This is probably only the beginning.
ReplyDeletehas to do with late hard spring frosts. Red oaks bear every year and white oaks every 2 years, so frost damage will show up the following year in whites, same year in reds.
ReplyDeletein Oklahoma we get a huge amount of acorns every 4 or 5 years, not so many the rest of the time
ReplyDeleteWhere I live in central Pennsylvania, last year my mature red oak and pin oak trees had zero acorns. It was the first time since moving here 16 years ago that we never had any. Same for our whole county -- no acorns last year; there was a remark about it in the newspaper. This year, the acorns are back and the ones on our red oak are larger than usual. Our neighborhood's population of squirrels decreased for a while but seems on the upswing again. Odd.
ReplyDeleteThe return of karma has come due and directly related to the financial news. Nature can no longer hold back mankind’s inhumanity to one another, and the karma is spilling over into nature. Only when people return to goodness will acorns return. With the turn of the year, watch for the signs that this karma comes due, not just in currency fallouts, but all the whoring after money such as the Supreme Court making violent video games for children legal in favor of the video makers when the people of California voted against it. Not only will the coyotes come out for these men in black at the Supreme Court, but those of the white shoe boys on Wall Street, lobbyists and D.C. We are entering the 2012 cycle and unless people worship God more than money and gaining materialism without morals, the Law of Life decrees that the plug is being pulled.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. Flipside here....I've lived in Atanta for 20 years (former Wall Streeter too, Bruce --- Hi) and am astonished at the plethora of acorns this year. Never seen anything like it! They CARPET some yards and sidewalks...it's like walking on marbles.
ReplyDeleteThe other noticeable difference this year is that I'm having no FIGHT at all with the squirrels who want to bury nuts in my planters pots with fresh pansies. In the past I've put mothballs in the soil or top-layered with lots of pepper. Each only worked somewhat; they are determined vermin!
I think we've had more rain in Atlanta this year so the ground soil is softer. Plus the squirrels probably feel like they don't need to be quite as stealthful since they hit the acorn lottery here.
Sigh...
ReplyDeleteFor 3 of the last 5 years, there have been TOO MANY acorns! The chipmunks and squirrels are all over my house! Can't stand the rodents.
We have one year of no acorns and people are worried? Seriously? Please. Things go in cycles - you note it in your article.
Frankly, I'm happy the acorns are few and far between. Of course, it's not really the case. They are everywhere and I still have a hard time cleaning my gutters and lawn (I can't afford a lawn service). But they are fewer than years gone by. And that's a good thing.
Next year, I can kill chipmunks and squirrels with impunity and be happy they are gone for the time being. They are nasty, dirty, and horrid rodents. They belong in the wild, not in my house.
We dont have acorns out here but in Wyoming and the rest of the Rocky Mountains as well as Canada the pine beetle is killing all of our pine trees. It has been going on for about 5 years now and there doesnt seem to be much of a solution.
ReplyDeleteHere, in Pasadena, we lost our bees.
ReplyDeleteI used to have avocados. No more. About 3 years ago if I saw a bee ... it was down and struggling.
Can't blame DDT. Americans don't use it, anymore.
It's nature's way, I guess?
Yesterday, at night, out in my backyard, I heard a "chattering noise." Didn't sound like a bird's call. So I looked up. And, there was a squirrel crossing over some wires. And, I realized squirrels actually make noise.
It probably would be EDEN if small animals always had their food stucks, uninterupped. But there's no eden, either.
As to the EURO. And, the market! What I find offensive is the LYING. The ability to make something sound very complex ... while officials and managers are out stealing from their customers. And, their civilians. OUTRIGHT!
We never had to get here. But we did. Because GREED infects people. And, yet? Nothing's really changed much. The poorest people are the easiest ones to rob. They pay the most, you know, when they borrow money. And, if "Household Finance" wasn't lending to them? The mafia cretins were.
Like all infestations, though, to "keep the business going" ... you've got to move the infestations elsewhere.
While the europeans are PROS at being diplomatic thieves. Too bad for them that Japan gave itself its own nuclear disaster. China is coming up short, as well. Because they BOX products. But inside? Only copies that are far inferior to most products they've copied. They also have no court systsem. No one to sue.
Soon, that will be Belgium, as well.
Is there hope? Algore forgot his chakra. The UN "wins" are slight. (Getting Qaddafi is nothing on which you can brag.)
And, the media isn't honest.
Just remember this. Being dishonest in business is one way you not only lose customers; they never come back!
If I was placing a bet? Belgium "sinks" and cuts into two pieces. One where the people speak WALLOON.
Romp-boy? ... I think Neil Farage has his number.
And, the TRUTH IS ALWAYS MORE INTERESTING! Because it's always so simple.
Know who the stars are gonna be: Markopolis. Mikey Burry. Michael Lewis. Miss Whitney. And, Eisman.
TWO ONE-EYED GUYS: Charley Munger and Eisman. Where the two eyed people need to have reality explained to them by one-eyed men.
After getting absolutely BOMBARDED with acorns last fall (2010), we have not a single one this year! Wow.
ReplyDeleteIn Rhode Island, that is. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteAnn Arbor, Michigan checking in....my wife and I were just discussing this the other day. Many fewer acorns and walnuts in our area than we can remember in the last 5ish years.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/11/20/wildlife-will-find-fewer-acorns-other-nuts-for-winter-foraging.html
ReplyDeleteI meant to say that this is high acorn yield year in OK, we crunch them underfoot. Live in the same kind of suburban area that Bruce Kasting does.
ReplyDeleteLast year I repeatedly used a push broom to clear our driveway of acorns. We have seen ZERO here on the ground under our oaks in Charlottesville, VA. The squirrels are now eating the crumbles I put out for the chickens.
ReplyDeleteBruce, stick to the financial stuff, even if you're sick of it. We live a few miles apart. I walk my dogs daily in some of the local Audubon sanctuaries and the McAndrews property near Oscawana. I've seen tons of acorns. Moreover, our several black walnuts have never been more productive, showering literally many hundreds of pounds worth (I know, they had to be carted off). Finally, I (and my dogs, having an intense interest, can attest) have never seen more squirrels than this year: on the walks but also a half dozen of them scatter every time I open my front door. We seem to be neighbors on different planets.
ReplyDeleteAndy Fitch:
ReplyDeleteYou may have some nuts. I don't. This NYT article on 12/3 confirms what I said in this piece.
No Nuts!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/nyregion/boom-and-bust-in-acorns-will-affect-many-creatures-including-humans.html?_r=2&hp
This is the first time in my life in fairfield County, CT that there are no acorns. Not one.
ReplyDelete