Woman keeps finding peanuts in plant pots – reason why may surprise you - Mirror Online

A woman was left scratching her head after repeatedly discovering peanuts in her plant pots, prompting her to seek answers online.

Makyla Ariel described her 'strange' predicament in the Creative Gardening Facebook group where she uploaded a snapshot showing a lone peanut nestled in one of her pots. She asked the community: "Can someone tell me why I keep finding peanuts in all my pots? Never experienced something like this before, so strange."

Fellow gardening enthusiasts were quick to point the finger at squirrels, suggesting they were stashing their snacks in her garden. Some members of the group also speculated that birds might be responsible.

Makyla's post from three days ago (Friday, February 21) has since garnered a flurry of responses. One person responded: "Somebody around you is feeding the squirrels and they are hiding them for later."

Another individual who had faced a similar situation shared: "Have the same problem. Squirrels hid them for later!" A third added: "Someone in area feeding peanuts to birds and squirrels and they are stashing them for later."

Meanwhile, a fourth recounted: "Scrub Jays and squirrels leave peanuts they've hid all over our neighborhood." It's a well-known fact among gardening aficionados that squirrels have a habit of burying food items like nuts in flower pots, as noted by Gardening Know How.

The website notes: "Squirrels dig primarily to bury their cache of food, such as acorns or nuts. Flowerpots are ideal because potting soil is so soft and easy for squirrels to dig in. Chances are, you'll find their tasty treasure trove buried a few inches (8 cm.) deep in your containers."

Wildlife Online points out that caching is an innate behaviour for many animals, where they hide away food for later. Much like humans saving a snack for later, squirrels stash their surplus food using their keen sense of smell and remarkable spatial memory to retrieve it later.

A Facebook commenter who came across Makyla's post knows all about squirrels' impressive memory. They said: "Squirrels can remember up to 300 placements of their winter food stash.. I found peanuts all over my yard, and I think it's adorable."

Other users shared their tips for keeping squirrels out of plant pots. One warned: "They will be back later looking for them (their peanuts). Then you will have flowers and soil everywhere.

"A little chicken wire placed on the top of the soil keeps them out. You can hide the wire under some mulch. Wire can be cut to size easily and you can cut a hole for whatever plant you have in the pot."

Another individual chimed in with a handy tip for fellow gardeners, sharing: "I have squirrels and chipmunks that do that. I sprinkle cinnamon on the dirt. It works. They don't like it."

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