Deer and turkeys both - and squirrels, to some extent - will eat the lower-tannin white oak group acorns before they turn to the more bitter red oak group acorns.Depending on what species were present in their area, the native Americans, just like the wildlife, utilized whatever food sources were available. The white oak acorns don't 'store' nearly so well as those of the red/black oak group, as they're 'programmed' to go ahead and sprout soon after dropping(I've even seen some sprout on the tree), so that they can get a taproot seated into the soil in preparation for shoot growth the following spring.
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