Acorn Antics

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Anne had a squirrel problem.  The oak tree at the foot of the Ticks' garden had been home to a family of red squirrels for a number of years.  This year, the débris around the tree had more acorns than she'd ever seen, yet as she observed the tree from her bedroom eyrie atop their four-storey Victorian home, she could not detect any squirrel activity.  No flash of red as a squirrel darted down, collected a nut, and scurried back up the tree.  No caws from the crows as they harassed a lone squirrel that had ventured into the grass further away from the tree.  Anne hadn't realised how much the little creatures had done to keep the ground beneath the tree litter-free. She remembered seeing something in the local library a few months back, about how the red squirrel was disappearing, and she searched the Internet to see what she could do.  "Put up a squirrel box", she read.  A few days later, Mr Ticks was at the top of a ladder, attaching a box to the trunk of the oak tree. Now Anne has to wait.  And watch.  Will the squirrels return?  She was sure she'd caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye as she walked past the Khans' house at the top of the road, perhaps the tail of a squirrel as it ran up the trunk of the sycamore tree at the edge of their drive. Anne Ticks has time, and now she has a mission.  The website she found was keen to know of sightings of red squirrels, a task she would make a priority every day until the oak tree was once more home to these cheeky, nimble creatures.  Meanwhile, the acorns littering the ground would be food for the larger birds and other denizen of the hedge at the bottom of the garden. Want to know more? Visit the link below.  Thanks for reading.