Beware Texas, Those Aren’t Birds’ Nests Now Filling Your Trees

Was walking through my Temple, Texas neighborhood the other day while admiring the numerous varieties of oak trees that line the street, and noticed large clumps of leaves and other mostly organic materials wedged into the various limb confluences. The big balls had a very eerie vibe, and resembled the type of thing you see cluttered into dying or dead trees you might find out front of a haunted house.

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As a parent, you usually like to provide yourself in being able to answer all your young children's questions whether it is just a few per day, or what feels like a thousand from an inquisitive pre-K kid. So, when we were on the family walk and my 5 year old middle child just had to know what the huge ball of twigs, leaves, cloth, and a bunch of yard debris is way up in the tree, you accept the mission to find the answer.

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So, now that you are all caught up on the investigation, if you see what looks like a giant rat's nest in the trees around your Texas home, you are really not too far away from the actual answer.

Beware Texas, Those Aren't Birds' Nests Now Filling Your Trees

These are squirrel dreys which are basically a tree rat's nest. They are not too dissimilar from a bird's nest with the exception of being a little bigger, and actually having a roof where a bird's nest has an open top.

So, not such a scary sight after all, and as long as the squirrels stay in and near the trees and nowhere near my house or attic, then they have my blessing do continue to do as they please.