Dinner is Served

 Autumn harvest isn't limited to our organic garden.

The oak trees are heavy with acorns this year. The one overhanging the chicken coop is a tad hazardous -- the acorns land on the metal roof sounding like distant gunfire, then bounce off to land among the chickens. Some of whom have respectfully requested hard hats.

The deer, squirrels, chipmunks and -- out in the woods (we have not seen any on the resort property so far) bears -- make the most out of this bounty.    As with the beech trees, it can be a challenge to find a fallen nut that has not already been pried open and nibbled.  The base of the beech and oaks are all roughed up by the deer digging for the nuts amongst the leaves.

Bears don't just wait for the fruits to fall. They will climb up into the trees to strip the tasty treats right from the branches.   Most of our larger beech trees bear the marks of bear claws.   In some of the smaller trees, like this wild apple tree on the Frisbee Golf course, the bears are too large to successfully climb to the top. Instead, the bear will snuggle into a nice secure position from which he will pull the branches in until the fruit can be reached and eaten.  This tends to snap off the limbs -- as you can see in this photo.  If the bears pull in enough branches, all laid one over the other, they can actually form a platform, or a 'bear nest' on which they can safely sit to reach branches that would otherwise be too high.   I remember seeing one of these thick 'bear nests' years ago way up in a huge beech tree near a hiking trail. The branches still had leaves on, which made the nest look very thick.  What made it extra special was the black paw dangling down from one side.  The bear was having a little nap up there, swaying gently in the breeze, stuffed to the ears with beech nuts.