Elk Rapids Almanac-September 2018
September 3-The first week of September I saw dozens of Monarchs daily, migrating south along N. Bayshore. This past week there are only a few 'stragglers'. Despite the moderate drought this summer I saw good numbers of milkweed plants and monarch larvae. Hopefully, with more of our attention to them, the monarchs can recover population numbers. _Thom Yocum
September 15-What’s with all the acorns? Has anyone noticed the abundance of acorns from their oak trees this year? At my house there are crazy amounts! Last year there were hardly any – which according to some folks portended a “mild” or “severe” winter, depending on who you spoke to. I did a bit of research and learned that an abundance of acorns is called “masting”.
Masting is part of a larger process in nature. In a non-masting year, oaks produce just enough acorns for the squirrels and chipmunks and deer to eat. It keeps the animal population in check, but it doesn’t allow for any acorns to grow into baby trees.
But every few years, like this year, oaks drop a whole bunch of nuts — way more than the critters can handle. That way, the animals will leave some leftovers to survive and eventually germinate into trees.
The only disturbing aspect to this is the uptick in Lyme disease from the increased number deer, game birds like turkeys and rodents who eat the acorns. A rise in the number of mice and deer, for example, can lead to an increase in ticks, which can cause a spike in Lyme disease.
Finally, more acorns does not signal a bad winter to come. There’s no correlation between the amount of snowfall or the temperature with acorn production. Whew! _
_ Liz DeLaRossa
September 3-The first week of September I saw dozens of Monarchs daily, migrating south along N. Bayshore. This past week there are only a few 'stragglers'. Despite the moderate drought this summer I saw good numbers of milkweed plants and monarch larvae. Hopefully, with more of our attention to them, the monarchs can recover population numbers. _Thom Yocum
September 15-What’s with all the acorns? Has anyone noticed the abundance of acorns from their oak trees this year? At my house there are crazy amounts! Last year there were hardly any – which according to some folks portended a “mild” or “severe” winter, depending on who you spoke to. I did a bit of research and learned that an abundance of acorns is called “masting”.
Masting is part of a larger process in nature. In a non-masting year, oaks produce just enough acorns for the squirrels and chipmunks and deer to eat. It keeps the animal population in check, but it doesn’t allow for any acorns to grow into baby trees.
But every few years, like this year, oaks drop a whole bunch of nuts — way more than the critters can handle. That way, the animals will leave some leftovers to survive and eventually germinate into trees.
The only disturbing aspect to this is the uptick in Lyme disease from the increased number deer, game birds like turkeys and rodents who eat the acorns. A rise in the number of mice and deer, for example, can lead to an increase in ticks, which can cause a spike in Lyme disease.
Finally, more acorns does not signal a bad winter to come. There’s no correlation between the amount of snowfall or the temperature with acorn production. Whew! _
_ Liz DeLaRossa
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