Mystery Animal Stored 300 lbs of Acorns and Nuts in a Microwave Antenna

Squirrels are
not the only animals that stock acorns for winter. Some birds do it, too. And
one species in California disturbed a telecommunications network with its storing
practices.

The birds hid their acorns
in a wireless antenna in Central California. A video that’s going viral displays
technicians opening a compartment on the antenna and releasing a flood of
acorns. In all, an expected 300 pounds (35 to 50 gallons) of nuts fell out. Walter Koenig, a senior researcher
with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, says he’s pretty sure the acorn
woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) was behind the act.