As many of y'all are aware Southwest Louisiana & Southeast Texas was hit by category 4 hurricane Laura.

 

My neighborhood before the storm had a tremendous amount of oak trees which were homes for an abundance of squirrels & doves.

 

Since the storm I've seen only a couple of squirrels & no birds until today a full 18 days later.

 

Question: where y'all think they went?

 

I know birds are capable of leaving the area but squirrels not so much.

Vacationing on the Texas coast?

   Good question. Is it possible that the vast majority of them were killed?  Any that survived are probably hiding and EXTREMELY wary of any larger forms of life that are around, because the safety net that they formerly enjoyed (the trees) are gone.    jj

Catt, I think they left the area, at least most of them. I'm sure they have a way of knowing something is not right. For them it's about survival. In the big fires out west, they say the deer smell the fire before anything happens and take off running. Some can't make it out in time. Cattle on the other hand, don't have the natural ability to survive. They will try, but they rely on man to survive. Not sure if I'm correct on this, but this is my own concept.

Before Charley came through where I live we had Squirrel’s, Doves, Cardinals, and a Woodpecker that would hang around and visit almost daily. 
After it passed it took months for the squirrels and the Woodpecker to come back. 
I haven’t seen the Cardinals or Doves since. 
 

 

 

Mike

the squirrels are in my d*** pecan trees 

I always tell customers never to worry about where squirrels go or where they are coming from, it's an exercise in futility. They will be back! 

As the bad weather arrives the squirrels will seek shelter in their dens, usually in trees. Unfortunately, many will die due to drowning, falling trees, exposure, etc. during and even after the storm. But enough will survive and over time they will usually rebuild the population.

 

We used to have a large fox squirrel population where I lived in the SC Lowcountry but after a number of tropical storms and the occasional hurricane their population has dwindled in some areas where they used to be prevalent. In other areas they are still thriving.

20 minutes ago, Koz said:

We used to have a large fox squirrel population where I lived in the SC Lowcountry but after a number of tropical storms and the occasional hurricane their population has dwindled in some areas where they used to be prevalent. I

I guess we need a couple of tropical storms and a hurricane around here.  You can't shoot them in town and

they know it!

59 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

I guess we need a couple of tropical storms and a hurricane around here.  You can't shoot them in town and

they know it!

I can! Haha

I've never been through a hurricane personally (praise the Lord), but I lived in the Caribbean for a little over a year and talked to the locals who'd been through Kotrina and Andrew.  The goats, burros, and even iguanas mostly disappeared for a while after those storms.  Some of the iguanas must have survived or someone brought a breeding pair over, because I would run into them pretty often and a 6 footer scared me when I came up on him while hiking.