Nice post Chickie! I had never heard of a butternut, except for the squashy kind.
Friends of ours have a lot of nut trees and the squirrels cleaned them all out. I suggested a
Have A Heart Trap for next year. Apparently her squirrels stay in the trees because of her cat that is a hunter.
I wonder if she could strap the trap to a tree limb?
Squirrels like to chew on various edible and inedible objects to help maintain their sharp teeth, which grow continuously up to 6 inches per year. Chewing prevents over-growth. Their teeth would grow too long - rendering them unable to eat and thus starve to death.
More squirrely facts can be found
here.
As far as I can tell, the hickory tree (many varieties) is prevalent from Southern NH on to northern Florida.