History Of Wildlife Food: Nuts, Berries, Fruits, And Acorns
By: Pat Malcolm -
For over 100 years hunting plantations have been planting fruit
trees for wildlife food and shelter. Like the old English hunting
plantations, todays hunters are realizing that big deer, strong
bucks and graceful does, hardy turkey, fat quail, and dove come
from supplementing what would otherwise experience a very mediocre
diet by planting and growing berry plants, nut trees, fruit trees
and acorns from oak trees, or muscadines from grapevines.
Fruit from Japanese persimmons are among the list of favorite deer
food treats. The wild persimmon is not as common anymore, so by
planting the Giant Fuyu persimmon an approach is to insure that the
bucks and does will be in hot pursuit of these foods to grow
reliably and economically by nature. When the lower limbs of the
persimmon tree have been stripped of all its fruits, deer will
often try to jump into the lower branches to get the plump, juicy
tree fruits. Pears and crabapples also provide essential vitamins
and minerals to grow bucks big, healthy antler racks: a food to
keep the does growing fatter during hunting seasons.
The Kieffer pear is the best wildlife fruit tree for planting for
doe and other wildlife, as it is a hard, long lasting fruit that
ripens late in the year. With this characteristic as a fall
wildlife food, deer hunters are able to hunt over the layers of
pears at the beginning of deer season. The Dolgo crabapple tree can
also be planted; the fruit ripens in early fall, so plant this wild
fruit tree close to your deer stand for a guaranteed kill.
Turkey, dove, and quail tend to flock towards different fruit
trees, nut trees, grapevines, and berry plants. Grape fruits are
popular with quail and dove, and turkeys seem to like muscadine and
scuppernong grapevines. When grape fruits ripen, it isnt unusual to
see quail migrate in coveys to strip the grapes from their vines.
Grapes have been planted by farmers for years as a growing blind to
keep their crops concealed, and the small game supplied with food.
When planting grapevines for wildlife feeding, one should also
interplant other native fruit trees such as the Chickasaw plum, and
American persimmon or for the grape vines growing and intertwining
to create the screening effect that makes all deer and turkey, and
quail feel safe to grow in a sheltered environment. Not only will
you grow an impermeable screen with the grapevines you plant an
added benefit of growing wild plums, and wild persimmons as a
stable wildlife food for your deer daily diet, or birds, duck, and
quail.
Quail in particular like to hide in the cover of blackberry bushes.
More often than not in mid to late October, one can approach and
examine the screening growth of a blackberry vine, before it loses
its leaves to feed to the deer and turkey. Blueberries can be found
growing wild everywhere, but wild blueberries tend not be as
abundant as new hybrid berries. New blueberry plant selection
supplies many wildlife animals. The same unpredictability happens
with mayhaw fruit. Grafted cultivars of mayhaw can be planted in
drier areas and to grow a reliable crop of fruit every year to feed
the birds quail, dove, ducks, and turkey. Mayhaw fruits are also
great for making mayhaw jelly; a buttered, hot biscuits best
friend.
Mulberry is a favorite food among small wildlife animals and big
game birds alike, and the mulberry trees grow a substantial crop of
berries over an extended time period. The mulberry tree is tall
enough at an early age that birds and animals can freely feed on
the mulberries on the upper limbs, while deer and other animals can
eat the berries from the bottom fruited boughs.
For bird food in particular, one nut tree grows more feed
opportunities for wildlife animals and birds than the rest; the
Gobbler Sawtooth Oak. With acorn crops of oak trees maturing at
only six years of age, birds, ducks, and squirrels get a wealth of
healthy food nutrients from oak tree nuts called acorns. Chinquapin
bushes and trees can be planted for deer food, as well as planting
Chinese chestnut trees. Wildlife birds and animals prefer the
flavor of these two nuts, which keep deer, animals, and other birds
returning to eat both chinquapin and chestnut trees bare every
year.
Every grower of pecan trees knows how birds and wildlife love to
eat these nuts, especially the small, seedling pecan nuts or pecans
with thin shells. Deer also get shelter near pecan trees and bucks
can be seen underneath the pecan trees even in early spring,
feeding on late maturing nuts that fall from the trees.
Of the many types of natural foods available for bird and animal
wildlife, perhaps the one most widely natural and inexpensive food
source comes from many species of oak trees growing abundantly in
United States forests everywhere. These oaks are: Black Oak,
Quercus velutina; Cherry Bark Oak, Quercus falcata v.pagodafolia;
Chinquapin Oak, Quercus muelenbergii; Darlington Laurel Oak,
Quercus hemisphaerica; Laurel Oak, Quercus laurifolia; Live Oak,
Quercus virginiana; Nuttall Oak, Quercus nuttallii; Over Cup Oak,
Quercus lyrata; Pin Oak, Quercus palustris; Post Oak, Quercus
stellata; Red Northern Oak, Quercus rubra; Red Southern Oak,
Quercus falcate; Running Oak, Quercus pumila; Sand Live Oak,
Quercus geminata; Sawtooth Oak, Quercus acutissima; Shummard Oak,
Quercus shummardii; Swamp Chestnut Oak, Quercus michauxii; Swamp
White Oak, Quercus bicolor; Turkey Oak, Quercus laevis; Water Oak,
Quercus nigra; White Oak, Quercus alba; and Willow Oak, Quercus
phellos.
Patrick A. Malcolm, owner of TyTy Nursery, has an M.S. degree in Biochemistry and has cultivated fruit trees for over three decades.
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