19 Jun Nature’s tree planters
Elephant
Forest elephants are the gardeners of the forest. They eat a lot of fruit and swallow the seeds without damaging them, planting them in a big pile of manure. So the distribution of many of the biggest trees are planted by elephants and their dung.
Jay
This bird is a colourful member of the crow family. In September and October you’ll often see the jays flying around woodland with their bills and throats crammed with acorns. Many of these they bury as winter stores but not all are retrieved and many germinate and grow into young oaks, making the jay as tree-planter on a national scale.
Squirrels
Millions Of Trees Are Planted Every Year By Squirrels Who Forgot Where They Buried Their Nuts
Stop the video after about 3 mins just for the squirrels
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Scatter Hoarding
Squirrels will bury their nuts where the frost can’t reach them. They’ll usually keep their food hoards close to their den but will sometimes venture much further afield in a bid to throw potential thieves, like fellow squirrels.
Deceptive caching.
If a squirrel which fears it is being watched will pretend to dig a hole and drop an acorn or nut in. In fact, it will conceal the nut it in its mouth, filling in an empty hole as a decoy to distract and delay its competitor.
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