It’s been a mystery to Robbin and I for several years as to who or what has been stripping or eating the bark of certain California Buckeyes below Sulphur Peak.
Only noticeable on a few trees this time of year, we have speculated all manner of rare varmints or animals. Last week while feeding and checking our stock water in the Greasy Creek watershed, Terri and I spotted the culprit in the act, an ordinary ground squirrel. I have often wondered how ground squirrels, half a mile or more from any water, get a drink or enough moisture to survive our summers. Perhaps I’m on the right track, or it may be something else altogether that drives a ground squirrel to ultimately kill the limbs of select Buckeye trees.
drycrikjournal 