Here in NE Kansas, I've hunted the same woods for the last 35 years. This particular section of woods has the best population of squirrels I have ever seen. Every year I kill 2 or 3 dozen squirrels from spring hunts to late winter. Rarely do I come home empty handed. I've gone twice in the last few days and have witnessed a change. Both times I've seen 2 or 3 squirrels and heard a few others barking, but the very few I did see were running on the ground at full speed. What I also saw was an extraordinary number of hawks. Could the growth in number of predators account for the reduced squirrel sightings? I should mention that I had perfect weather for both of the recent trips and saw lots of squirrels in yards and parks on the way to the woods. I'm the only one who hunts these woods for squirrels so the squirrels have not been spooked by too much hunting pressure. Do the hawks have them spooked??