The original hoarder

Acorn woodpeckers have a hoarding problem. It’s not just weird Uncle Woody; whole families stash acorns, thousands a season. The holes are used generationally, and some storage trees, called granaries, hold as many 50,000 acorns. Some granaries aren’t trees. Fence posts, houses, roofs, water tanks, street lights, they’re all fair game.

I took this photo one morning while marveling at the ingenuity and tenacity of a bird determined to store a winter’s worth of food. I trust it never taps into the power line.

acorn woodpecker, bird, woodpecker, oaks, Oregon, hoarder, The Road not Taken Enough

 

The Road not Taken Enough