Acorns!

Acorns do not techincally fall under crops unless you use the term "crop of acorns" so I will post under this forum.

Has anyone else noticed what a bumper crop of acorns there is this year? I have not paid too much mind to all acorns but have specifically noticed the white oak acorn crop is more than I can ever remember seeing.

I was visiting family in south Ark. last weekend and saw more white oak acorns than a herd of deer could eat lying under one huge old white oak tree in the back yard. There were so many acorns on the ground that it looked like a dump truck had dumped a load of them under the tree. I also noticed that every white oak tree in the woods was also depositing an abundance of acorns on the ground. In years past it seems that certain white oaks would produce acorns on a regular basis but the majority of them never ever had any acorns. This year seems to be the exception. Every tree in the woods has acorns lying on the ground underneath them and there is a constant sound of acorns falling to the ground no matter where I go. It is plumb dangerous to stand under the oak in the backyard right now... might get conked on the head with a big ol' acorn at any time.

I guess I really notice the white oak acorn crop every year because where there are white oak acorns there is a good chance you will find deer there too. Not so this year! There are so many acorns that the deer have not been able to keep them cleaned up off the ground. Are the acorns as plenitful in other parts of the country as they are in south Ark. or is this a local thing?

Central MD, which I just left, also has an abundance, many more than the deer can keep up with. Going out under the tree to BBQ, I couldn't even find a level spot of ground to set down my adult beverage [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I've never seen a year like it.. I'm having to keep my horses stalled to keep them from gorging on the things and making themselves sick.

I remember back in the early 60's that my grandfather had about a dozen 150 year old oaks cut down in his grove. My uncle told me he had them cut because they were producing too many acorns and that acorns were bad for his cows. I don't remember if he said it would kill them or just make them sick but apparently cows and acorns don't mix either.

Tis true. They put a hurting on cows. We had one get awful sick and she nearly died because of the acorns. It was the worst case of the runs I'd ever seen ... She sparyed the poo poo by the gallons for several days.

There were so many acorns in the woods where I hunt that I hardly saw a deer in ten days of hunting earlier this month. I saw plenty of deer sign in the woods but I guess the abundance of acorns has allowed them to minimize their movement in search of food. Sooo, no deer for me this year. Even so, I am glad for the deers' sake that there is a good food crop for them this fall.

A big Pin Oak near the building site for our new house has a bumper crop of acorns. The gravel drive that goes under its extended branches looks to be paved with acorns. Haven't noticed unusually heavy acorn development for the red oak, or any of the brushy oaks (post oak, jack oak whatever, I'm no arborist) The pin oak has an interesting feature. It has a stub branch, cut off years ago. The branch is hollow and is split in half horizontally for the last 8-10 inches. This forms a condo with a sun deck for a squirrel. Now if I could only get the red squirrels to eat the acorns and leave my pecans alone...

Pat

Pat:
Squirrels have a great sense of taste. They also like good things to eat.
My problems are with falling red oak acorns always landing in my beverage container.

Egon

Do you reckon the squirrels prefer your pecans over acorns? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] My uncle has a huge pecan tree in his yard and the squirrels must have it cleaned out. Back in Oct. you could see them all over the tree and hear pecans dropping on the tin roof of his old garage, dislodged by their eating and jumping about. But by Nov. they were nowhere to be found around that tree.

While sitting on a deer stand one morning last week I watched a cat squirrel collect and bury acorns for about two hours. He would scurry up the top of a 50 ft oak and collect some acorns, scramble back down the side of the tree, race across the ground in front of me and disappear for a few seconds. Then he would return and repeat the process. It occurred to me that while he was an industrious little fellow he was certainly not very smart. Seems to me that he would have climbed the tree once and knocked down a few dozen acorns and collect them from the ground to bury them. Maybe he was just working up an appetite for breakfast? [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

Chris, I think maybe you are right. The squirrels might prefer pecans to acorns. Alternatively, there are SO MANY acorns they can't make a dent in the supply...

OK, I'll bite, what is a cat squirrel? I am familiar with a few names: red, grey, fox, Kaibab.

Although the squirrel you watched might not be an efficiency expert at gathering acorns, their memory is less than perfect and they frequently do not recover several of their "stash." This results in their accidently planting oak trees. Jay birds help plant trees as well.

Some of the descendants of some of the earlier immigrants to this continent (AKA native Americans/Indians) used to eat a lot of acorns. Took lots of prep and isn't exactly mouth watering yummy to my taster but I guess if you are hard pressed to feed your face you aren't so fussy.

Pat

Pat,

Cat squirrel is just another name for grey squirrel.

When I was a kid back in the 60's I use to squirrel hunt quite a lot. Back in those days there seemed to be a lot more fox squirrels than there are today. Now about all I see in the woods are cat squirrels. I don't know what the reason for that is. Back home in Ark. the woods are full of cat squirrels... more squirrels than I have seen in many years. They say that squirrel hunting is on the decline. I guess that might account for why their numbers have risen over the past several years.

As far as acorns go, I don't know if they are a preferred food source for squirrels. It seems squirrels prefer hickory nuts, pecans, pine burrs and beech mast over acorns. Of course I could be wrong. It just seems I have seen a lot more squirrels eating all of the above more often than acorns. Even so, with this year's bumper crop of acorns it looks like all the acorn eating critters will have plenty to eat for a little while longer, at least until all the acorns have either been eaten, buried, sprouted or soured.

Chris, Thanks for the note. I find euphemisms, colloquialisms, and folk sayings interesting. I have added "cat squirrel" to my vocabulary. I was pleased to hear the weatherman use the term "Blue Norther" this morning. I was NOT pleased that its use applied to me. My mom's family called them blue tailed northers.

It is about 20 degrees cooler today than same time yesterday but no rival for the record high and low temp for the same day a couple weeks ago. Back in the 80's Oklahoma City had record high and low temps on the same day due to a blue norther. If I recall it went from 86 down to 17 or something like that. Enough to send the squirrels scurrying.

I too hunted squirrels as a lad but haven't shot any since the 60's. Good eating and if it isn't too PC, fun hunting. Sometimes my dad would go squirrel hunting with me. He used a 12 gauge single shot if they were running fast and jumping tree to tree and I used a single shot .22 on the slow or stopped ones. Don't see many squirrels on our "new" place. Just now and then.

If they were plentiful, I'd probably shoot a few but like the Bob White quail that I used to hunt in my high school days (DAZE?) I don't have enough to sustain a harvest so I leave them alone. I'd rather hear the few we have than eat them. Same with the frogs, especially bull frogs. As a teenager I shot a truck load for my parents and relatives to eat (never acquirred a taste for them till I was 25). Now I don't hunt them on my own ponds or allow anyone else as I'd rather hear the last few than eat them.

If I "needed" to hunt for food, I'd take a few deer as we have a considerable surplus.

Think I better get going, my chipper worked perfectly yesterday and started fine 3 times but the 4th time it didn't turn over at alll (electric start). So cold or not I need to do some trouble shoting. PLUS a few minutes ago my mom and wife were getting ready to go to town and the "CHECK ENGINE" light came on and stayed. They switched vehicles and left me the cripple. I don't have a clue!

Later, Chris. Best to you and yours this holiday season.

Pat