Our yard is covered with red oak acorns this year! Part of the reason is that deer and other animals don't like red oak acorns as well as white. But the shear volume of acorns this year is because it is a Mast Year for red oaks in our area. That means that the red oaks have produced so many acorns that the animals that eat them are overwhelmed with the abundance. There are too many to eat! By producing a lot of acorns in one year, oak trees ensure that not all of their acorns are eaten by predators. Then, in future years when the acorn crop is lower, the populations of predators will drop, so that the next Mast Year there are fewer predators around. This leads to more of the oak's energy going to producing new oak trees, and less going to feeding the animals in the neighborhood.

Oak Haven is a 60acre private woodland in Southwestern Ohio near Cincinnati. Jim and Julie Varick both have degrees in Botany and over thirty years of experience in managing natural areas. They enjoy sharing their enthusiasm for the natural world and would like to build relationships with likeminded people to share knowledge and resources. Please leave your comments!