Old Wives Grandfathers Tales

Been out in the woods a lot the last few weeks and have seen a lot of wild game especially deer and squirrel. Hunting for me is a time of solitude, a time of contemplation, of reflection. One of the things I've been running through my mind was some of the stories my father, grandfather, and father-in-law told for the gospel truth.

Squirrel Migration...
My paternal grandfather used to tell about the time he was in the woods and hundreds of squirrels were all traveling together headed down the ridge he was hunting on. He swore that his grandfather had told him the same story when he was a youngster.

Killer Spike

My father-in-law called these deer killer spikes. He claimed that they would find a mature buck and using their spikes they would gut the larger buck to kill it and eliminate competition for the does. He never saw it himself but he knew of someone else who knew someone who did see it happen.

Dominant Squirrel


My father and my father-in-law both told of the dominant squirrel. It seems that each section of the woods contained a older dominant male squirrel. Each spring when the young squirrels were born he would visit all of the nests in his territory and any baby male squirrels he found he would chew off their testicles so he would be the only male able to mate with the females.

Wonder what Sigmund would make of these stories?