I have the privilege of walking my property - 24 acres of fields and forested wetlands - every day (several times on a good day!), granting me the opportunity to notice even the subtlest of changes brought on by weather and wildlife. Unlike the subtleties of fanciful ice crystals or a downy feather, though, sometimes things can change a lot overnight.

Where a lovely blanket of snow had glistened in the moonlight Monday evening, on Tuesday morning my backyard looked like it had been the scene of an impromptu football game. An extensive swath of brown stretched far and wide across the yard and along the field edges. Nearby, smaller patches of compacted snow added to the scene and heightened the interest of my dog. Not more than 50 feet from the house, and we had not heard a thing in the night.

What caused this mess? Here’s a another clue, for those who still need one:

Acorns. A tremendous abundance of acorns, in fact. Last year, 2019, was a mast year for oaks: Mast is the fruit of trees and shrubs, such as acorns and beech nuts. Periodically, these trees produce much more fruit, or mast, than they do in a more typical year. Oaks experience heavy acorn production every two to five years, and they synchronize their production in an area to produce a superabundance of acorns. Producing more acorns than squirrels and others can possibly consume helps ensure that a few more acorns survive to become trees.

So in 2019, oak trees across New England produced a bumper crop of acorns, carpeting the ground (and driveways and roads) with acorns. Add in the relatively low number of gray squirrels and light snow cover in many locations this year, and you have a bonanza for deer this winter.

Acorns have been described as a Power Bar for deer, rich in protein, fat and carbohydrates. They are large and nutrient dense. Deer can digest them relatively easily; and, they take less effort than reaching for apples or browse. With oak trees dominating the property around my house, and a sizable local deer population, my backyard became a cafeteria on Monday night. From the looks of the tracks, deer of all sizes ate plentifully, then bedded down nearby and chewed their cud to digest their meals before continuing on with their nighttime travels.

It’s not just deer benefiting from the acorn abundance. Many other species rely upon them, including squirrels and chipmunks, mice, turkey, blue jays, some woodpeckers and black bears. There have been a number of black bear sightings on Maine game cameras of late, and again, acorns have a role to play. Warm temperatures and abundant food mean there are apt to be more bears moving around than you might think. Wouldn’t that be a great capture on the Yankee Woodlot game camera!

Friday update: They came back for more . . . Late last night Bodie’s growl prompted me to look out the back windows, to see at least 10 deer feeding on acorns under the light of the nearly full moon. My movements gave me away, and they quickly took to the woods. By the looks of things this morning, the deer had been there awhile undetected, or they came back later to continue the feast. Time to set the game camera to video!

- Jennifer Brockway, Somerset SWCD Outreach Coordinator

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2021 Return