Squirrel Picnic : 13 April 2024

I glanced towards the window and spotted this furry creature oblivious to its surroundings :

I quickly got the phone and very slowly prepared to take photos. I didn't know how long I had before the squirrel saw me but it was so enthralled eating that it did not realise or perhaps even ignored me !

The weather's been a bit gloomy and the windows are not so clean so I've done my best trying to adjust the contrast to give a better photo. The photo above also manages to show the squirrel picnic : rosehips.

You always imagine that squirrels eat nuts I also know that they eat tree bark but I was not aware that they also went for rose hips. Many gardeners 'dead head' their roses to encourage new flowers depriving birds and squirrels of this nutritious food :

Rose hips make great treats for squirrels any time of year. If you prefer not to have squirrels foraging among your rose bushes, cut the rose hips and offer them to squirrels by leaving them in crooks of trees or squirrel feeders in view of your windows.

_{Close-up of the actual picnic after the squirrel left.}

This forum says that :

Rose Hips are very high in Vitamin C, and also minerals and antioxidants.

I’ve checked the recipe for rose hip syrup again here I'd seen this recipe before but sadly it still contains too much sugar for my liking so I’ll pass.

Next winter I'll be more alert in my walks though and may even be trying this :

---

There's always the issue of course of allergies and side effects in any foraging. This page alerted me to a few.

While searching for information on the squirrel picnic I did notice the different rose hip colours and shape varieties. I always assumed that all roses would be the same but apparently some types of roses produce more rose hips than others. This webpage tells you which ones to go for if you want to increase the production. The page also tells you many other facts about rosehips.

Thank you for reading!