|Red Oak Acorns, November 2010, Munroe Falls, Ohio|
But why is this event called a "mast year"? A little searching through online dictionaries and I found the answer- this usage of the word "mast" most likely derives from an old English word that meant food. So a mast year is when the woods is full of food, and in the case of this year's deer season, full of food for deer. And that brings me back to the deer season. The number of deer harvested during the early archery season was down- a fact attributed by many to the deer staying put in the woods and feasting on the bumper crop of acorns, instead running out into fields and farmland to search for leftover corn and soybeans. I'm not sure if I buy this argument, but I recently visited my parents house and experienced this "mast" event first hand.
Why does this happen? The prevailing theory seems to go like this: In one year, if you flood the woods with many more acorns than the squirrels, deer, and other wildlife can eat, than there is an actual chance of getting some of those extra acorns to germinate and eventually become trees. By in large though, from my brief research this morning, there is much that needs to be learned about this phenomenon.
|My hand with "mast"|
My question to you is- are you having a "mast year" in your neck of the woods?