Acorn - Quercus sp.

Acorns are a great source of fat, starch, and protein for animals. They are a fantastic winter food source. Lots of animals eat them - deer, chipmunks, fisher, bear, squirrels, porcupines, mice, etc. You can sometimes guess who ate the acorn by the size and shape of the hole in the shell. But, in this case, half of the acorn meat had been completely removed from the shell and left on the ground, intact. It was fresh (not shriveled). My guess is that it was left by a gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) as they tend to peel strips off the shell in order to get to the meat inside. Also, I found this acorn on the ground, and gray squirrels often eat on the ground in comparison to chipmunks, which prefer to perch and mice, who tend to drag their food under cover before eating.

*Disclaimer: I found this acorn on the ground and moved it to a birch log for the photo because it provided a nice contrast

Habitat: Deciduous forest