Keep a careful extra eye on the road when you take a drive out in the country this spring. The squirrels are being extra "squirrely."
You may have seen them, darting in front of your car or sitting smack in the middle of the road refusing to budge. Consequently, the number of squashed squirrels seems higher than usual.
A co-worker and I were working on a story Saturday near Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area. The roadway was crowded like Bikes, Blues and Barbecue, only with squirrels. We couldn't go 50 yards without swerving to miss a squirrel. Maybe you've noticed the squirrel phenomenon this spring.
Do we have a population explosion of squirrels or is it something else? Back at the office, another work pal said he'd seen the same thing in Bella Vista. His theory is that squirrels are in the road eating salt from treatment solutions laid down during the snowy weather in February.
A call to Clifton Jackson, an Arkansas Game & Fish Commission small-game biologist, was in order. He's wise in the ways of rabbits, quail and squirrels in particular.
Yes, squirrels could be after that salt, Jackson said.
"If there's salt on the road they certainly might key in on it."
That may be why travelers are seeing squirrels stopped in the road, as if licking the pavement with no acorn or other nut around.
Deer are also fond of salt, Jackson said. It makes sense squirrels may like salt, too.
Another factor Jackson pointed out is that squirrels are mainly on the ground this time of year. Most of the food in the treetops is gone. Spring buds that squirrels eat aren't out in big numbers yet. Our furry friends are foraging on the ground for whatever acorns are left, or any other morsel.
The reason we saw so many around Hobbs, Jackson figures, is that the park is mostly woods, hence more squirrels. We noticed lots of squirrels again during a drive to Beaver Dam, another woodsy route.
Squirrel hunting season is closed, but I'll wager if it was open, Jackson would be out there with his rifle. Squirrel season opens May 15.
Jackson is such an avid squirrel hunter that a well-known gun maker asked Jackson to help him design the ideal squirrel-hunting rifle. With coaching from Jackson, the gunsmith made the rifle named it after Jackson.
The gun maker proudly gave the first Jackson rifle to Clifton. The serial number is 001. Now, squirrel hunters around the nation carry a Jackson .22-caliber rifle.
Jackson stepped into the woods frequently last fall hunting squirrels.
"It was a good season, but more difficult with a rifle because the leaves stayed on the trees longer," Jackson said. "That hid the squirrels. Those branches hung on to those leaves like they were money."
Hopefully there will be a few squirrels left when the season opens. Makes you wonder when they're out playing in the street like they are now.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAFlip
Sports on 03/26/2015