No acorns this year in my part of Ohio

[Renee]

Just an observation... I can't find any acorns in my area of Ohio. Unless its just a random thing in the places I searched, it might be a rough winter for those animals that eat them. It seems the crop is lighter some years than others but I couldn't find ANY.

[jwal10]

We have lots here, more than I have seen in a while. They are thick on the roads where the oak trees extend out over the road.....James

[Danaus29]

Lake Hope state park had a bumper crop. Sounded like rocks being shot at the van when those acorns dropped on the roof.

Mom had a ton of buckeyes at her place. We haven't seen any.

I haven't been out looking so I don't know about acorns but a big hickory tree in my yard had a bumper crop of nuts .

[||Downhome||]

Deer already cleaned ours up...

[Renee]

I couldn't find anything on Ohio's acorn crop but I found this about West Virginia:
“We’re looking at an oak mast failure,” Chris Ryan, DNR supervisor of game management services, told the Charleston Gazette. “This is one of the sparsest acorn crops we’ve had in the 42 years since we started conducting mast surveys.”

Danaus I see you are from Ohio but I never heard of Lake Hope State Park. I'm in the north/central area.

[1shotwade]

I think lake hope is considered south central. I've been there and It's a beautiful place.(many years ago)
BTW,no,notta,zero acorns in my area of southeastern Indiana.

Wade

[Pigeon Lady]

I just noticed the same thing last week. Non here either ( SW Virginia). We have a huge oak right out front of the house. Last year the ground was thick with acorns. I was collecting the caps to make buttons. This year, nothing.

Wonder what the cause is.

[Danaus29]

Yep, Lake Hope is south central, part of the Hocking Hills area.

I haven't found any acorns here either. Squirrels usually get them.

[||Downhome||]

Major food source for much of the wildlife, Even seen Blue Jays eat them!

[Danaus29]

On the subject of nuts though, black walnuts have been so plentiful that the squirrels haven't even bothered to bury them properly. I've stumbled across a bunch that were partially buried, and were very tasty!

[Renee]

I've heard a squirrel working on a walnut over my head at night. We'll have to figure out how they are getting in between the floors. GRRR

[Danaus29]

If it's a squirrel at night it's a flying squirrel. The big ones are active mostly during the day. Flying squirrels are tiny little things and can get in most places a largish mouse can get in.

[1shotwade]

You're pretty much right in general terms.However all squirrels will cut at night depending on weather conditions.I have gone with dad as akid on night squirrel hunts. In a full or partially full moon especially during extreme daytime heat. It's really pretty neat to slip up the creek in the middle of the night and work around till you get the moon behind the squirrel and draw down with a little 410 and take tomorrows supper home.


Wade

[Danaus29]

So it really is squirrels rustling in those leaves at night. I was kinda hoping (afraid) it was bigfoot stomping around out there.

[Renee]

I BOUGHT some acorn caps, LOL. Ebay! From Michigan. We want them for crafts at my job!
Danaus29, I've never seen a flying squirrel but that doesn't mean they are not about. I had the day off and heard the squirrel today. In my case I think it's a squirrel from the day shift.
The only explanation I've found relating to acorn crop is this, again from West Virginia:
Ryan chalked up the poor acorn crop this year to two things. First the derecho. Although the storm struck two summers ago, it’s important to consider red oak trees take 18 months to develop acorns. The crop which should be on this fall would have been vulnerable when the unusual storm tore through West Virginia. The white oak mast was impacted by heavy rains all spring and summer and to a lesser degree by the impact of Hurricane Sandy. West Virginians will remember Sandy struck here in the form of a very early snow storm and caused a lot of forest damage.
All is not lost for the West Virginia critters however. Where the oak was a bust, all other mast species seemed to soar in production this fall.

“We’re calling it basically the year of the beech,” Ryan said. “It’s the best beech year and the hickory is also tremendous. Good beech, good hickory, and good black cherry.” http://wvmetronews.com/2013/09/23/ma...bust-for-2013/

[AdmiralD7S]

I've seen a handful of acorns here in the dayton area. Squirrels were very lighting cutting on them a couple weeks ago, but I haven't looked since.


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