Uses for Red Oak Acorns

Acorns

• Red oak acorns require two years to mature fully. They grow to lengths as long as 1 1/8 inches, with a shallow cap covering less than a third of the fruit. The trees fluctuate concerning the acorns they produce each year, with a solid crop available every two to five years. The tree takes as long as 25 years to bear its initial batch of acorns, with most red oaks needing about 40 to 50 years before they generate plentiful amounts of the fruits.

Food for Mammals

• Small and large mammals alike depend upon the acorns of the red oak as an important staple of their diet. Gray squirrels, red squirrels, fox squirrels, chipmunks and mice eat the acorns, with these creatures often responsible for caching the acorns away, leading to their development as seedlings. White-tailed deer and black bear depend upon red oak acorns to supplement their diets. Bears in particular use red oak acorns as a major source of nourishment in the fall before they hibernate, with a good crop of acorns sometimes directly related to the success the bears have in reproducing the next year.

Food for Birds

• The bobwhite quail, tufted titmouse, blue jay, white-breasted nuthatch, grackle, sapsucker, ruffed grouse and red-headed woodpecker are just a few of the birds that you may see as they seek out and eat the acorns of the red oak. The wild turkey makes these acorns a big part of its menu every year. Waterfowl species, including the wood duck, mallard, redhead, green-winged teal and American pintail also find and eat the acorns. Red oak acorns ripen by late summer, often more quickly than many other types of acorns, giving birds a viable food option.

Food for Native Americans

• The Native American tribes of the regions where red oak grows used the acorns as food but had to prepare them in various ways to make them edible. They first removed the tannins within the fruits, often used to create dyes, so they could consume the meat within the shells. Boiling, leaching soaking in water or burying the acorns through the winter months accomplished this task.