Robert Hoeflinger, age 13, of Kirkwood, Missouri, for his question:

How do squirrels find the nuts they hide?

No, they don't use an "X" or a twig to mark their concealed caches. And naturally they don't inscribe their hiding places in a notebook    with compass directions. What's more, a squirrel's memory is not outstandingly keen. Actually, he fails to find many of the nuts he hides. If neglected long enough, some of them sprout roots and shoots. The forgetful habits of the average squirrel accidentally result in the planting of many forest trees.

True, a good memory would help a squirrel to find all or most of the nut caches he hides for his winter food. But without it, he does the best he can. When food becomes scarce, he skitters around looking for all the likely places that a squirrel would naturally choose to hide a few choice morsels. The frisky fellow is used to retracing his routes throughout his territory. Most hiding places that looked suitable in the fall, also look suitable later. By looking in these likely places he usually finds a fair percentage of his secret caches.