I noticed that most of the grass on Academic Row, under the trees, has been covered with mulch. My best guess is that this is to prevent weeds from popping up, and post-rain, to provide more nutrients to the tree roots via leaching.

But as I was walking past it today, I noticed a squirrel hopping along the mulch, looking (seemingly in vain) for where he had buried his nuts.

I guess my question is, can the squirrels find their nuts through the mulch? And if not, are we either destined to see a massive squirrel die-off, or alternatively, a hostile takeover of Chick-Fil-A by malnourished rodents?

Discuss.