To the Editors:

I hope Gazette readers can solve a mystery. What causes the Norway spruce to drop its new growth over the winter? You can see the bright, fresh tips strewn over the snow under these majestic trees.

I asked a well-known resident forester and he initially gave the popular explanation: that red squirrels nip them off and fling them away. But he, like every other person I have queried save one, confessed he had never actually seen a squirrel doing this dastardly deed.

Surely the spruce don’t deprive themselves of the fine new growth! Fortunately, they seem to thrive.

Any explanations? Or true sightings of the naughty nippers?

In eager anticipation,

Buffy Calvert