Everything That Makes A Living In The Woods Eats Corn

woodsrunner

Don't know if this totally accurate or not, but I'm going to run some tests and see what results I get. I'm pretty sure it is probably right though. Close friend and former classmate in forestry school told me this a day or two ago. He specialized in wildlife management and my specialty was forest management---natural environment, not commercial forestry. Anyway, we were talking about deer coming to my corn hull pile big time apparently due (I thought) to a high sugar content in corn grain hulls. My friend, Jim, says the deer are after the non-gmo aspect of the hulls, and not the higher sugar content. He said if I wanted proof, to get a 50 pound bag of WalMart deer corn, dump it out on the ground and 20 or so feet away dump out 50 pounds of my non-gmo corn that I use in my grits business. He says that without fail the deer (squirrels, coons, birds, everything) will eat every grain of the heirloom corn before touching WalMart corn or any gmo hybrid. I'm going to check this one out!

KENFU1911

If the deer are survivors I would expect them to avoid GMO crap.........I do

HvyMax

We have been genetically modifying everything we have ever cultivated for thousands of years. Animals, crops etc. That said bugs and animals avoid margarine and artificial sweeteners like the plague. You can make a suet block with the best seeds and margarine and nothing will touch it. I prefer diet drinks in the summer so I don't have to worry about swallowing a bee.

NN

I suspect this is corn fact is the case; but, the same thing happens with acorns--- the deer eat the choice ones like white acorns first before moving one to the less tasty and probably less nutritious varieties.

woodsrunner

Comments to the above responses:

HvyMax....I understand what you are saying, but I'll offer this minor correction for your consideration. We have been assisting, so to speak, Nature by SELECTIVE BREEDING for thousands of years, and corn is an excellent example of this. Results have been great and not harmful! BUT....we have not been physically and chemically maneuvering individual genes within an organism for much over 25-30 years now. Monsanto is the industry leader in this. (Remember Agent Orange?...Monsanto). GMO corn has been genetically infused with genes from shellfish (I've read) to build resistance to glyphosate (RoundUp). To date 63 countries of the world have outlawed this, but your president has decreed Monsanto total protection from GMO related lawsuits. I wonder why? Selective breeding, what you are referring to, pays dividends big-time in either plants, animals and people, so let's keep it up!

Ned....It is the corn, I'm pretty sure. Old heirloom stuff that produces a big, flavorful kernel through the selective breeding that HvyMax refers to. As for White oak acorns that you reference, remember I've beat my drum and pounded my tambourine for several years here on the Board pointing out that deer will search out white oak acorns FERTILIZED with a custom blend of 17-17-17 fertilizer! (12-12-12 will work if you don't have a source of the other). This is one of the cheap and simple tricks we've used in wildlife management to draw in deer to localized areas. Simply scatter about a cup of fertilizer per inch of tree diameter at ground-line in late February-early March, and again in August. Works on the black oak species also, but white oaks are a little better.

woodsrunner

cpj,

Your suggestions WILL be used! Remember, though, you're dealing with an old dumb Georgia Mountain Country Boy, but I do have a strong background in forest and wildlife research projects with the USFS and Auburn Univ. But more importantly...."my edjukation ain't replaced my Awareness" and that's just as important :tooth:

snake284

woodsrunner wrote: »

Comments to the above responses:

HvyMax....I understand what you are saying, but I'll offer this minor correction for your consideration. We have been assisting, so to speak, Nature by SELECTIVE BREEDING for thousands of years, and corn is an excellent example of this. Results have been great and not harmful! BUT....we have not been physically and chemically maneuvering individual genes within an organism for much over 25-30 years now. Monsanto is the industry leader in this. (Remember Agent Orange?...Monsanto). GMO corn has been genetically infused with genes from shellfish (I've read) to build resistance to glyphosate (RoundUp). To date 63 countries of the world have outlawed this, but your president has decreed Monsanto total protection from GMO related lawsuits. I wonder why? Selective breeding, what you are referring to, pays dividends big-time in either plants, animals and people, so let's keep it up!

Ned....It is the corn, I'm pretty sure. Old heirloom stuff that produces a big, flavorful kernel through the selective breeding that HvyMax refers to. As for White oak acorns that you reference, remember I've beat my drum and pounded my tambourine for several years here on the Board pointing out that deer will search out white oak acorns FERTILIZED with a custom blend of 17-17-17 fertilizer! (12-12-12 will work if you don't have a source of the other). This is one of the cheap and simple tricks we've used in wildlife management to draw in deer to localized areas. Simply scatter about a cup of fertilizer per inch of tree diameter at ground-line in late February-early March, and again in August. Works on the black oak species also, but white oaks are a little better.

Mainly what we have here in Southern Texas is Live Oak. The deer here will take live oak acorns over any corn or grain. This is like candy to them and on years when we have a bumper acorn crop in the late summer-early fall, we can't seduce deer out in the open until most or all of the acorns are gone or rotted in December usually. I've thought about picking up a couple of tow sacks full when they first fall and saving them in a cool dry area and putting them within my fenced in feeder in December. I think this would be too much for Mister Bucky to resist no matter how much he's been shot at.

Teach

cpj wrote: »

Deer can read, you know.

That's why my turkey feeders have warning signs:

TURKEY FOOD ONLY! DEER FEEDING HERE WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT!

Jerry

snake284

Teach wrote: »

That's why my turkey feeders have warning signs:

TURKEY FOOD ONLY! DEER FEEDING HERE WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT!

Jerry

Yeah I do that too, I have a sign that says Hog food only, but deer are hard headed critters so I have to shoot a couple every year to show em I mean business.

woodsrunner

A Live Oak is similar to those trees in the White Oak group in that the acorns it sets in the early spring mature and drop from the tree the following fall. Those trees in the Black Oak group require two years on the tree to mature. The Black Oak group will have more tannin and less sugar in the acorns than the White Oak group, and that's the reason all acorn eating wildlife prefer them. Leaves, on the other hand, remain on Live Oaks for two years and only one year on all other Black and White Oaks. The wood grain pattern in Live Oaks is diffuse porous and interlocking, and that makes it about as tough as iron. All other oaks, both White and Black, have ring porous wood with a well defined grain that can be split apart. Try busting a chunk of Live Oak with an axe and see what happens!

If you want to attract deer find White Oaks, and especially Swamp Chestnut Oaks, and fertilize them as I suggest and get ready! I swear the deer will stand around close-by waiting to HEAR an acorn hit the ground!

snake284

woodsrunner wrote: »

A Live Oak is similar to those trees in the White Oak group in that the acorns it sets in the early spring mature and drop from the tree the following fall. Those trees in the Black Oak group require two years on the tree to mature. The Black Oak group will have more tannin and less sugar in the acorns than the White Oak group, and that's the reason all acorn eating wildlife prefer them. Leaves, on the other hand, remain on Live Oaks for two years and only one year on all other Black and White Oaks. The wood grain pattern in Live Oaks is diffuse porous and interlocking, and that makes it about as tough as iron. All other oaks, both White and Black, have ring porous wood with a well defined grain that can be split apart. Try busting a chunk of Live Oak with an axe and see what happens!

If you want to attract deer find White Oaks, and especially Swamp Chestnut Oaks, and fertilize them as I suggest and get ready! I swear the deer will stand around close-by waiting to HEAR an acorn hit the ground!

Well no white oaks around this close to the salt. They have a deep tap root that will find saltwater and kill itself. Live Oaks as you know have relatively short roots that go out more than down.

Back in the 80s and 90s I had a Burr Oak in my yard I planted as a little sprig. Now about 30 years later that's a sizable tree. I ride by that old house now and then and look at it in wonderment, thinking how little it was when I planted it. I believe the Burr Oak is a member of the white oak family.

Gene L

Got a water oak in my front yard. The mast fall this year is nothing like it was last year, which was enormous. I don't know how much deer like water oak acorns, as I live in town. I've seen only one deer grazing in my front yard.