No, it is not a remake of General Sherman's march. It is much more serious than that. Experts are warning of a massive squirrel invasion. No, really. Apparently, the hive mind of the squirrels have decided they want to move in on South Carolina.
The same Easter freeze that devastated South Carolina's peach crop could lead to a phenomenon unseen in these parts for nearly 40 years: a massive squirrel migration.
Sure, the term sounds funny, but it's serious stuff. In September 1968, squirrels searching for more hospitable living conditions along the Eastern Seaboard ended up dead along the highways and floating in lake spillways throughout the Southeast.
Wildlife officials have no idea whether another September migration is near, but they do see a repeat of one factor in the most recent one: The Easter freeze wiped out white oak acorn production.
That most likely means residents in areas hit by the freeze — such as York County — will have to deal with more squirrels than normal raiding backyard bird-feeders.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources does an annual survey of hard-shelled seeds like acorns in the Upstate as part of its management of deer and bear hunting. Scouts found most white oak trees didn't produce acorns this year, said Dennis Chastain, a Pickens County naturalist who helped with the survey.
Hunters scouting deer-feeding areas report similar findings in the Midlands.
In a normal year, red oaks, which have a different biological clock than white oaks, could produce enough acorns to compensate for the poor white oak acorn production. But this year, red oak acorns won't be enough because the drought also has wiped out other food sources, Chastain said.
More squirrels in people's backyards is a nuisance. But wildlife officials are concerned that bears and deer will show up more around houses in the Upstate, sparking more animal-human encounters.
So the squirrels are bringing friends, too. Not good. Frankly, we think the best course of action for residents of South Carolina is to move at once.
