Where are all the acorns???

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roscoguy

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Any botanists aboard? A couple weeks ago, I noticed that the big oak next to the driveway hadn't dropped any acorns this year. Then while cutting the grass last week, it occurred to me that none of our oaks had dropped any. Took a walk today: nary a one in almost a mile. Anyone else?
 
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Interesting.

As with Oldman45, we seem to have an abundance of them in central Indiana, this year. The deer & squirrels are are making quick work of them as they hit the ground.
 
:) I always wondered why there will no acorns some years and then another year when you walk you can't stand up there is so many. Don
 
I think it has to do with the weather in your region. We sure have a ground covering of them around here.

It all started in late September. We were at a big antique show in Louisville, KY. Its held twice a year and the fall show is great. Its outdoors at Locust Grove (where Lewis and Clark left from in 1803).

As we were walking along the circular drive I heard what sounded like someone shooting a small caliber handgun. Very distinct concussions. When we got closer, we realized it was acorns falling from the huge old trees and impacting the vendors vans downrange. As we went around the circle we met some of our friends we see at all the shows. He said he was glad they brought along the eazy-up, some of the bigger ones were really hitting hard. But we did the expected thing, we picked up a couple of handfulls. I have a grandson who wants to plant them!

I took a walk early this morning, and the park trails were covered with them. The mast eaters, tree rats and deer, will be well fed this fall around here!
 
Here in E Central MS

We seem to have a pretty good crop. There are several "water" or "live" Oaks(I'm no botanist but I stayed at a Hampton Inn) at work and they have been dropping them for several weeks. I have not been to the woods because the little red devils, Chiggers, seem to enjoy a bit of fat with their meal. They and mosquitoes tend to keep me out of the woods til there has been a hard frost. One of my friends who lives in the country has noticed a number of small fawns with spots on the side of the road. Presumed HBC. I think there are more deer in MS than rabbits.
YMMV
 
Don't know about acorns but there's plenty of "nuts" on this board!:D I know,I need to come out of my shell.:p

Regards!

Hobie
 
"rburg" is 100% according to my biologist daughter - your local weather. There are so many acorns, hickory nuts, and black walnuts here its unbelievable! I have two black walnut trees that have produced more nuts this year than in the last thirty years combined. Rain, rain, and more rain!!
 
here in sc there are lots. i have noticed that we seem to have lots of acorns when it is very dry and very wet. the "very wet" situation makes sense. the "very dry" does not. i would love to have someone who knows about such things explain it to.
 
Last year almost no acorns and the apple trees were pretty sparse too.This year the acorns and apples are abundant.
 
There are few acorns on the higher elevations here in the mountains of Georgia and western North Carolina- there was a hard frost late in the spring on the high elevations that killed lots of the buds, and it's driving bears and critters down looking for late season food. Lots of reports of cats being killed by coons.

I'd figure bear huntin' is going to be good this year for the dog hunters across the state boundary in NC. More of the reports are coming from the Murphy/Andrews/Franklin area than mine.
 
Was out this weekend putting up deerstands (OK I watched them put up the deerstands) and could'nt believe how many acorns were on the ground.
 
We AZ bear hunters pay close attention to mast crops such as acorns, which if you can find them, especially Gambel Oak acorns, will lead you pretty directly to bears. But, there seems to be no evident rhyme nor reason as to when oaks produce, or don't, and it sure seems to be unrelated to precipitation amounts or other easily observed environmental factors. It appears to be one of those "cyclical" things, such as ruffed grouse populations in the Great Lakes states, owing little or nothing to measurable environmental influences. I've spent years observing a small copse of Gambel oaks, and their production is wildly inconsistent. If any botanists are able to shed light on this, I'm eagerly all ears!
 
We have LOTS of really BIG acorns at the farm in Carroll County, TN this year. The apple trees are loaded with fruit as are the persimmon trees. Maybe it's a sign of a good deer hunting season. Not as many acorns and persimmons as last year, but much larger.

Class III
 
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We have 9 acres of forest and its about 85% Oaks, the nuts are (were ,before the rats got 'em) plentiful this yr but very small here. Went for a hike up Silver lake mt. last month and was able to pick up some good sized nuts. I had planned to plant them here to vary the stock....but the chipmunk climbed onto the table on the deck and selectively at them from biggest to smallest.
 
jkc said:
It appears to be one of those "cyclical" things...
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Could be. I've noticed that maples are hit & miss with helicopter production. (Also none of them this year.) This is the first year with no acorns that I can remember.
I did a little bit of digging on the web before posting & it seems that people were asking the same questions about 3 years ago, with no real answers given. It seems to be quite wide-spread in this area. The owner of a nearby golf course said that he had none, as did friends a couple miles away. I also happened to talk to a buddy in CA who said that he hasn't noticed any either. (The usual crop of other nuts, though. :rolleyes:) It was this that made me wonder just how wide-spread it actually was.
As to the weather, it wasn't particularly unusual either this year or last. We had a couple of wet months & a couple of dry months. It ended up averaging about normal.
One last note: we had a bumper crop last year!
If any botanists are able to shed light on this, I'm eagerly all ears!
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Ditto.
 
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