HuntingNet.com Forums - View Single Post - how to read acorns
View Single Post
Old 09-10-2007, 10:17 AM
  #4  
Grasshopper13
Typical Buck
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Southeast Missouri
Posts: 968
Default RE: how to read acorns

Hey MU!

Whiteoak acorns are a preferred food source for whitetail deer. The difference between a white or red oak acorn is the level of tannic acid found in each. There is less tannic acid in the whiteoak, so they're "sweeter" than the reds. They will eat both, but almost always eat whiteoaks first. Squirrels will leave little bits of acorn on the ground where they cut them, but they will also pick up the entire thing and run off and bury it. Every deer I've ever watched eat any acorn, pops the cap off when they first crunch it. The cap usually falls out of their mouth, and they leave it. In my area, whiteoaks are prefferred over almost anything, even agricultural crops.


GH
Grasshopper13 is offline