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We've a large walnut tree in the garden which has been covered in walnuts high up in the branches. Following the weekend's storm I went out this morning hoping to retrieve them but found walnut carnage! There are dozens of broken, shattered shells and the kernels themselves have gone!
The usual suspects in nutty thefts would be squirrels but I'd assume that they could get them from the branches themselves and they usually gnaw a neatish whole in a shell rather than pulverising them. Would badgers eat walnuts; it'd take a fairly powerful bite to crush the shells (there are certain badgers about)?
We have a PineMarten that lives in our Loft, there are literally piles of walnut shells up there on the floor. Not sure if you have them where you live, but if you do thats the likely culprit.
I think Pjay is in Cardiff where the closest thing to a pine marten would be a scabby cat. And they don’t eat walnuts. 😀
(I once saw a pine marten alongside the cycle path on Swansea seafront, except we don’t get them down here. If I’d been in Scotland it would have been a definite sighting but being here it was a bit puzzling!)
Badger would be the most likely culprit I would have thought.
Either that or look out for a monster mutant squirrel.
I'm in Somerset and although I've heard suggestions that Pine Martins could be in the area (particularly the Polden Hills which are close by) I'm not sure that this had been confirmed (would be nice though). We've definitely had badgers in the garden so I suspect that these are the most likely culprits.
Anything and everything. We humans seem quite low down in the nut gathering pecking order
The squirrels have built a 4 lane super highway from the Oak tree where they live to the Walnut tree just across the drive. They eat them or carry them off whether they on the tree or on the ground. It would surprise me to see them catch them in mid air and cart them away too. We used to have a good crop but I think this year has seen a grey squirrel explosion. Literally thousands of the little grey long tailed tree rats wherever you go. At least one did have the decency to commit suicide under my bike wheels last week so that is one less!
Ours all gone ages ago - squirrel likely suspect.
if they've been smashed rather than chewed then that suggests birds maybe- Jays are busy this time of year collecting Acorns - don't know if they are interested in Walnuts. Crows are known to drop walnuts to smash them - is if theres a hard surface (patio or whatever) then that might be your answer