Acorns

[Greg]

This press release was obviously just one of the tongue-in-cheek variety, but one paragraph struck me:

Learning Center Snowboarding Manager Rob Bevier looks upward to the oak trees for his snow forecast. He looks for a heavy yield of acorns and says that this year looks like a bumper crop.

I have a lot of oaks in my yard. One of them dropped so many acorns that the entire ground underneath it is covered. Maybe they're on to something?

 

[bvibert]

That's all the proof I need that we're going to have a good season!

 

[180]

Last year was heavier for me. I put no basis in the acorn crop for predictions.

 

[ctenidae]

I keep an eye on cat's tails and woolly caterpillars.
Since I don't ahve a cat and don't see many wooly caterpillars in Boston, I really just have to make shit up.
Interestingly, I'm a little better at it than the pros.

 

[Greg]

Last year was heavier for me. I put no basis in the acorn crop for predictions.

Thanks for bursting my bubble... :roll:

 

[Marc]

I keep an eye on cat's tails and woolly caterpillars.
Since I don't ahve a cat and don't see many wooly caterpillars in Boston, I really just have to make shit up.
Interestingly, I'm a little better at it than the pros.

All it takes is a little creativity. You're better at making shit up than the pros because when you go to school for a technical discipline that involves a fair amount of math and numerical analysis, they suck your soul dry of creativity. It's part of the curriculum.

 

[PA Ridge Racer]

Our cars have been getting rained on by the darn things in the driveway. More so than I can remember. If it means more snow / cold. I'll take it.

 

[Talisman]

I put more credence in Pacific Water temperature (El Nino or La Nina) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) as winter predictors than woolie bears, acorns, Old Farmer's Almanacs and swamp levels.

That said, locally it is acorn city and they are dropping like crazy.

 

[wa-loaf]

I found an acorn in the laundry last night. Must be ready to snow!

Oh, that's just my daughter picking them up at preschool and sticking them in her pockets.

 

[Hawkshot99]

I hate acorns! They dull the blades on my mower so fast. Plus I can shoot them out like missiles.

 

[ctenidae]

All it takes is a little creativity. You're better at making shit up than the pros because when you go to school for a technical discipline that involves a fair amount of math and numerical analysis, they suck your soul dry of creativity. It's part of the curriculum.

I don't know, I have a degree in Finance- a field where a little too much creativity sends you to jail.

 

[WoodCore]

Huge amounts of acorns and also hickory nuts as well at my house. The squirrels look like their mobilizing for Iwo Jima!!!

 

[MRGisevil]

This press release was obviously just one of the tongue-in-cheek variety, but one paragraph struck me:



I have a lot of oaks in my yard. One of them dropped so many acorns that the entire ground underneath it is covered. Maybe they're on to something?

Rubbish imo. I've got a buttload of Oaks in my yard and every year they yield the same amount: back-breaking.

 

[madskier6]

I have been getting pelted with acorns in my yard & driveway over the last several weeks & couldn't remember it being this bad. I was wondering if others were also experiencing this. I'm glad to know that it's a predictor for a cold, snowy winter. Gotta think positively here even if there is no scientific evidence to support the conclusion.

One of my co-workers told me that his indicator for the winter weather is the level of squirrel & nut/acorn activity in the Spring predicts the weather for the following winter. The more nuts the squirrels gather in the Spring, the more snowy a winter it will be 9 months later. Anyone else ever hear of this?

 

[Marc]

I don't know, I have a degree in Finance- a field where a little too much creativity sends you to jail.

Only if you get caught. I mean, not you specifically, I mean, the general "you"...

Ahem.


How's that hedge fund by the way?

 

[Greg]

Fall of 2007 (when I first posted this) was no comparison to the acorn crop this year! Holy crap. We're gonna get buried this winter... :lol:

 

[snafu]

My brother moved into his current house about 2 years ago - just a couple weeks ago he tells me I have to see the acorns he has this year - HUGE. We grew up with a bunch of Oaks in our yard so we had a good idea of how big they got, but when he showed me these I was floored, some were almost as big as a golf ball. Omen? you tell me...

 

[Glenn]

Interesting! I'm giong to have to check the situation at home. Although, I think our oak only drops every other year?

 

[speden]

There was an article in the Boston Globe about this a while back:

"In the Blue Hills, Don McCasland, program director for the Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center, attributes the larger crop of acorns to the increased moisture as well as the cooler summer and lack of ozone hanging over the area. As a result, most of the trees seem a lot healthier, including white pines, which he and others report are dropping their pine cones in similarly large proportions as acorns.

He and others noted that the extra acorns will probably reverberate across the food chain, enabling more squirrels, skunks, chipmunks, mice, deer, and bears to survive the winter. As a result, predators such as hawks, coyote, foxes, and others are also likely to flourish next year, when there is more prey."

So I don't know about a good acorn crop predicting a hearty winter, but watch out for more wildlife on the trails in the coming years!

 

[marcski]

Not sure if it has anything to do with skiing or snow forecasting...but in our local woods there are just tons and tons of acorns. Much more so than the last few fall seasons...a few of my riding buddies and I have noticed this independantly. It's weird..there are so many you have to be on notice when making high speed sharp turns in the woods while mtn biking.