The Massachusetts Dead Squirrel Phenomenon has finally hit the mainstream media, and the cause they subscribe to is one that had not come up before, namely an ominous Median Restoration Project. Meanwhile, down south here my new theory for the robust reshuffling this fall revolves around cicadas. See, I've been reading that young squirrels in Indiana were feasting earlier in the season on the tasty, nutty Brood X (behavior also seen by reader Rob C. in Princeton if you recall), but now they are gone and the acorn crop is reported to be lower than normal most places (though it's higher in Massachusetts), so I think that the squirrels are wandering far and wide trying to get their bug fix, not realizing that it's going to be another 17 years. And with that, I'm reclosing the case of the scampering squirrels.