Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Urban Wildlife: Can You Find the Squirrel?

Can you spot our local urban wildlife, the Eastern Fox Squirrel harvesting acorns in this grove of California Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) trees?

If you are lucky enough to have some large mature trees in your yard or parkway, you are likely to have a front row seat to observing lots of urban wildlife. As our regular readers know, we love observing, learning and sharing stories about our wild neighbors so we thought we’d share this photo and see if you can spot the Eastern Fox Squirrel harvesting acorns in this grove of Quercus agrifolia commonly known as California Live Oaks.

Thanks to the recent winter rains, the oak trees produced lots of catkins, that’s what you call the flowers which produce the fruit, a slender acorn, that nourishes our neighborhood wildlife in abundance, sort of like an all you can eat buffet for squirrels!

Catkins, the flowers produced by the California Live Oak become acorns, an important food source to squirrels

Once the acorns mature, the trees are full of squirrels hopping from branch to branch harvesting acorns. Our family dog is the best squirrel spotter, we usually only notice them when the trees branches start moving. The squirrels are fast and efficient and seem able to defy gravity!

Found – one Eastern Fox Squirrel at the very top of the tree canopy!
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Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard is the publisher of the Larchmont Buzz. Patty lives with her family in Fremont Place. She has been active in neighborhood issues since moving here in 1989. Her pictorial history, "Larchmont" for Arcadia Press is available at Chevalier's Books.

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