The Role of Squirrels and Blue Jays in Oak Reproduction
Online/Virtual
Due to the 4th of July holiday our meeting will be held on Tuesday July 10, 2018.
While many animals eat acorns, the Eastern gray squirrel is one mammal that actually helps the oak tree. If you have ever watched them, you will notice how they find a single acorn and carry it off to bury it in a shallow hole, presumably for later consumption. Since it?s impossible for the squirrels to remember all the hidden acorns, the forgotten ones foster the next generation of oak trees.
Like squirrels, Blue jays are known to hide nuts for later consumption. While they cache seeds and nuts from many plants, blue jays prefer acorns. These birds stash such an abundance of food that they only recover 40 percent of their cache, and so do their part in oak reproduction.
Understanding and facilitating natural oak reproduction is important to the progress of ecological restoration. Join us and learn more about how these animals help in the regeneration of our most valuable native tree, the oak.
Speaker: Tom Simpson, Field Station Ecologist at McHenry Conservation District
Families welcome No fee or registration required
