Whither the squirrels?

LACONIA — Last year, rodents of all varieties were in extreme abundance, finding their way into homes, littering the highway and even swimming in the lake.

This year, the critters appear to be scarce.

Kim Tuttle, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Fish & Game, said squirrels, chipmunks and other animals depend on acorns and other nuts, which were in short supply last year after a time of abundance led to growth in the rodent population.

A kind of squirrel migration began as they looked for food. Many died on the road, were killed by predators, starved or otherwise didn’t survive the winter.

“The squirrels had to take a lot more chances and got killed during migrations or were subject to a lot more predation from hawks and owls,” she said.

“Numbers got knocked back down. It’s a normal process, a cycle of predation. Predators respond to higher levels of food animals.”

Chipmunks are particularly vulnerable to predators and tend to stay in a home territory, but their numbers also declined amid the nut dearth. 

Tuttle said a number of people have been asking her about the decline in squirrel and chipmunk populations.

“People are noticing, but it is nothing alarming,” she said. “It’s not like a disease process. It is all related to a mass nut-crop failure.”

This time of year, rodents often eat berries, insects and bird eggs. It’s too soon to say whether nuts will be in abundance this fall. 

Meredith farmer John Moulton, whose crops are sometimes damaged by rodents, is fine with the population being down.

“Where did they go?” he asked. “We’re very pleased. Last year we saw heavy field losses in corn and pumpkins. Now we’re just dealing with the run of the mill crows, turkeys and other birds.”