OAK MAST DOWN THIS YEAR FOR MISSOURI'S WILDLIFE

JEFFERSON CITY -- The acorns that fall from Missouri's mighty oaks are a mainstay in the winter diets of many wildlife species. Each year the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Forestry Division staff surveys heavily forested areas in the state to determine the availability of acorns. The oak mast production survey for 1996 found that statewide mast production is below average, but in most regions there will be plenty of acorns available to feed wildlife.

MDC foresters surveyed 5,222 oaks, about half of them in the red oak/black oak group and half white oaks. This year's composite oak mast production is among the poorest seen in the past 38 years. MDC Wildlife Research Biologist Eric Kurzejeski is not too surprised by the survey findings. He says poor crops generally follow bumper crops like the one Missouri had in 1995. But he says while this year's production, on average, does not bode well for those species that depend on oak mast for winter foods, the picture in most regions of the state is not bleak.

"The Ozark's border and western regions had above-average production among the red oak/black oak group," Kurzejeski says. "White oak acorn production was significantly above average in the central and eastern portions of the state just north of the Missouri River. All other regions, except the eastern Ozarks, have at least one species group where production was close to or above average."

The poor crop in the Eastern Ozarks will likely have two affects, according to Kurzejeski. Mobile animals such as deer, turkeys and songbirds will likely leave areas where acorns are scarce during the winter in search of food, and squirrel reproduction rates will likely be lower this spring.

"Squirrels are not very mobile," says Kurzejeski.

"So they will have to depend heavily on their stored reserves to survive. The reserves they use trying to survive the winter will lessen their ability to reproduce in the spring. So there probably will be fewer squirrels to hunt next year."