In Arkansas, where conditions are the driest they've been since 1925, according to one widely used measure of short-term drought, ranchers have been selling off cattle to avoid having to feed and water them, said Arkansas Department of Agriculture spokesman Zach Taylor.

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Also on that short list, it so happens, is spotting one of the aforementioned troops hand-feed an overzealous and noticeably plump squirrel who's anxiously scratching on the door to get in.

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"When I was a kid in the '50s ... it got real dry, but nothing like this, " said Marvin Helms, a 70-year-old farmer and rancher in central Arkansas who was compelled to sell his beef cattle after being short on feed.

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