Acorn Question

[Lulu2010]

It rained here a good bit last night. My mom went to work and picked up a ton of acorns from the parking lot for Lulu and was so excited to bring them over this evening because Lulu has never had acorns before. I am always overly-paranoid about contamination of anything I give to my animals and even after my mom begged to give her some I still said no. I did save them however, because I promised to get your guys' opinions here. Are these acorns at high risk of bacteria since they sat on the ground who knows how long and sat in rain water all of the afternoon and night last night? If they are still good, don't many members do some kind of preparation to help ensure that they are safer and that way they can also be stored? My mom found a "recipe" to boil and bake them but I am not sure what I should do. Thanks for any help. If it is better to get fresher ones, please let me know what I can tell my mom for next time when she decides to get some. I really don't want to make Lulu sick or kill her. Thanks!

[Milo's Mom]

From the little tiny bit of info I found online about acorns and harvesting them (picking them off the ground), it is best to get them within 24 hours of them falling. However, sometimes that is simply not possible. You can do a water test to them to identify the "good" ones. (this is NOT A GUARANTEE)
Fill a bucket with water and dump a few big handfuls of acorns in the water. Some will float and some will sink. Pick out and THROW AWAY the FLOATERS. The ones that sank are supposed to be the good ones. In my experience, most of them float, but maybe 1 of every 10 or so will sink. After I have them separated by the water test, I check to make sure that the caps are nice and tight, if still in tact. The cap should not come off easily...if I could take the cap off, I tossed it.
Then as far as I am concerned, I have done everything I am capable of to make sure the acorns are good. I leave them out on the counter (on a tea towel) to dry for 24 hours (rolling them around every couple hours), then I pack them into a Ziplock Freezer bag, squeeze out all the air and toss them in the freezer.

I do not place them in the oven to dry and I do not bake them. There is a process to dry them and grind them to make acorn flour, but from what I have read it is pretty involved. I think they have to be boiled for a specific amount of time or times to remove the tanins, which is what makes them bitter. I have no desire to consume them, in any form, myself...they are treats for the squirrels I am over wintering and if the winter is really bad, I will also put them out for the wilds. I managed to collect, test, & freeze between 30-40 pounds of acorns this year...in total I think I actually picked up close to 200 pounds of acorns (I lost count).

Hopefully this info is helpful and I do know that there are some others on the board that do harvest acorns...hopefully they can provide you with some info too.

[Lulu2010]

Thank you! I am going to try the soak thing you mentioned. I don't know if I will feed any from this batch though, but I want to at least see how they turn out. Might get my mom to take a broom to work and sweep the area and then collect some from the next day. I think the most of what she brought are missing the cap anyways. I think her feelings are hurt that I am making such a big deal about this, but I am just concerned and have Lulu's best interest at heart. :)

[muffinsquirrel]

I am in the minority with my acorn gathering. I have never, in 10 years, had any problems resulting from feeding these acorns, but do yours however makes you comfortible.

I collect however and wherever I can - the majority of mine come from trees planted around the parking lot at PetSmart. They fall into the street and I sweep them up into a dustpan and dump them into bags. When I get them home I rinse them off and throw away the ones with cracked shells. I let them drain a while in a collander, put them in ziplock bags and freeze them. I feed them frozen and the squirrels seem to love them. I figure the squirrels know much better than I do which ones are good and which are bad.

Like I said, it works for me. If you don't like the idea, don't do it.

I also give my flyers, in particular, old rotting limbs. They think it's buffet night at the feeding station! They rip the branch apart and eat all the bugs - I keep expecting to see them sit back on their little rumps and burp!!!:D

muffinsquirrel

[MiriamS]

Leave it to Muffinsquirrel to set us all straight! Lulu I've always been super paranoid, not so much about rotten acorns because let me tell you, my flyers will reject veggies that smell just fine to me (that I then eat). They turn their noses up at an acorn and I'll crack it open to be shocked that it's all black inside. No big deal, just means it was old when I got it. They will take ones with a little green mold on the outside and that's okay too because it's not toxic.

I try to pick mine directly from the tree because I live in a city and I'm nervous about dog/raccoon parasites. I then rinse them and let them sit out to dry before packing them up in Ziploc freezer bags and freezing them. That usually neutralizes anything I'm worried about, though not chemicals. I also buy most of my acorns from people online that pick or collect from "cleaner" locations. I think one of our members named AnimalFarm still has a bunch and she sends them to you if you pay the shipping. You can often find sellers on eBay that pick them directly from organic locations (no pesticides, fertilizers, etc) and I am comfortable with that. Acorno.com is also great.

I have picked acorns from parking lot trees but I did study water management in college and I can tell you that parking lots have crazy chemical runoff. I'm pretty sure it never rains where Muffinsquirrel lives so her acorns are probably fine. Depending on how urban your mother's place of work is, the main concern would be chemicals, which are only harmful if they accumulate. I would personally be cautious about the yucky car chemicals. I'm guessing that the ones your mother found are probably fine in terms of mold/germs/etc. If the acorns weren't soaking in the wet parking lot I think they'd be fine. If I were you, I'd rinse and freeze some and let Mom give those to Lulu so she can enjoy what will surely be absolute delight for Lulu. Your mother was wonderful to think of doing that so she should be rewarded. Then you request a fresh/dry bunch from your mom or order them online. And feel lucky because there's an acorn shortage where I live.

Acorns and various larvae would be a mainstay of flyer diet in the wild so you should capitalize on them as a treat. Also, if you find tiny waxworm like weevils coming out of dry acorns or in the frozen ones, don't worry, they're great protein for Lulu and she will gobble them up.

[pappy1264]

I am with Muffin, I get em, clean em', let em' dry in the sun and bag and freeze em'. Never had an issue, and squirrels outside are eating them, so there you go. (And oh yes, tree bark, loaded with creepy crawlies, my flyers will rip your arm off to get it!! lol)

[Jackie in Tampa]

same as everyone else...
I sweep them from friends driveways that I know do not use pesticides and the driveways are oil free...
I never have enough acorns to freeze..never..
I can use 20 lbs a day here..honestly...
I have oaks but MY sqs harvest them...:D

Like Muffin, I throw away the cracked ones...
I don't have time to float them...but want to try it so I can let Palmer bob for'em...she loves to bob nuts in my coke and Fido's water bowl...
and then of course she pats it...
I do not drink my soda after this :shakehead my floors are not good, no!:shakehead
Palmers, what a girl!:Love_Icon :shakehead :Love_Icon

Just wanna share that the acorns here are soooooo small...bigger than an english pea, smaller than a marble!
I have seen acorns from all over the country, no wonder you all's sqs are so big...:jump
I have seen acorns from cbell/Texas that are golf ball sized!
They're so big, I put the caps on my sqs like berets...:jump
so cute!:D

Acornnugen to ya!:wave123

[Pierre]

I also gather them around my neighborhood while walking my dog. I toss any with cracks and float them in a bucket at home. The floaters are tossed. Remember though to remove the caps first---they make them float!

I collect them with or without caps. As long as they're uniformly tight and hard feeling, no cracks, and don't float, I dry them in the sun and feed away. I never had a problem last year with my overwintered boy or so far with these little bubs. I am not saying it couldn't happen though...

[Pierre]

Palmer loves to bob nuts in my coke and Fido's water bowl...
and then of course she pats it...
I do not drink my soda after this :shakehead

Just wanna share that the acorns here are soooooo small...bigger than an english pea, smaller than a marble!
I have seen acorns from all over the country, no wonder you all's sqs are so big...:jump
I have seen acorns from cbell/Texas that are golf ball sized!
They're so big, I put the caps on my sqs like berets...:jump
so cute!:D



Hahaha about Palmer.:rotfl Maybe she's part raccoon! :D

Some of the old oaks in my neighborhood have acorns almost 2" in diameter! Huge! :)

[MiriamS]

Jackie that is really fun to hear about Palmer. Part raccoon :rotfl I tried to get my squirrels to go bobbing for chestnuts one winter. I thought they'd have fun with it after seeing a video of Mia. Poor little flyers pawed at it and then gave me a look that said, "I not get my face wet. You are crazy Mommy!"

So you can just ignore me and my fear of chemicals in parking lots because everyone else is making me feel silly. I guarantee you that what I said is true, though, so I would at least avoid the ones that have been soaking in the parking lot.

[Lulu2010]

Thanks so much for all the helpful information everyone. :thumbsup I will get my mom to get her some fresh ones at a later date when the ground isn't so damp/wet and when she can clear an area and pick them up fresh. I am just so nervous about feeding them but I do feel more comfortable since so many people seem to not have problems with them. I just felt that acorns would be more prone to causing problems. Thanks again! :)

[MiriamS]

Definitely not prone to causing problems. It's their natural diet! They should be eating acorns. :thumbsup

[Lulu2010]

Definitely not prone to causing problems. It's their natural diet! They should be eating acorns. :thumbsup

Thanks! :) I just get so overly-paranoid about contamination. Definitely going to try some acorns with her and see. She is such a good eater. She takes Boo Balls over her nuts any day. Lol.

Does anyone know how the Calcium to Phos is in acorns? Just wondering. I like to make sure she gets more good food than bad and keep things balanced as much as possible. Thanks.

[lizharrell1]

I managed to score some super large acorns yesterday, approximately as big as a quarter.....washed them, floated them, threw out the floaters, picked the sinkers, then laid them all on the the back deck this morning to dry....went to retrieve them and bag them a little while ago.....and yep, you guessed it....they were ALL gone....darned neighborhood grey squirrels robbed me BLIND:shakehead Now I have to go find more......

[Lulu2010]

I managed to score some super large acorns yesterday, approximately as big as a quarter.....washed them, floated them, threw out the floaters, picked the sinkers, then laid them all on the the back deck this morning to dry....went to retrieve them and bag them a little while ago.....and yep, you guessed it....they were ALL gone....darned neighborhood grey squirrels robbed me BLIND:shakehead Now I have to go find more......
:rotfl That is great. All that hard work for your neighborhood squirrels. I am sure they will hang around your house more often. Haha!

[MiriamS]

yep, you guessed it....they were ALL gone....darned neighborhood grey squirrels robbed me BLIND:shakehead Now I have to go find more......
That is really quite funny. I just let them dry on my countertop and if you freeze them with a little moisture from the floating, it's no big deal. It will just become frost in the freezer and dissipate when you take it out. Trust me, Cocoa and Chip eat their frozen acorns like nobody's business. They're so nimble that the cold doesn't even bother their little paws. Of course, when they jump down my shirt immediately after eating a frozen acorn, I notice their cold paws!

I'm pretty sure the Ca/Ph ratio in acorns is considered close to perfect but you can PM 4skwerlz to verify.

[allie]

Can squirrels eat chestnuts safely?:thankyou

[CritterMom]

Technically yes, BUT...

Chestnuts are WET nuts which is why they are often cooked like mashed potatoes. That means they are an ideal habitat for mold to form. There is no way to tell from the outside if the inside is bad, So if you decide to feed chestnuts, ALWAYS slice them in half first so you can inspect the insides.

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

I was looking at chestnuts in the produce section at the grocery store and was wondering the same thing, if Simon mt grey squirrel could have some.
He loves his acorns !!! only from my yard because we dont spray.
I soak thenm but dont frezze, why do you freeze them to kill any bacteria like you would meat or just to have them all year?