I found alot of feeding sign under a patch of sweet gums. The only thing they could be eating are the pokey balls that come from the sweet gums. Do deer eat them?
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Do deer eat sweet gum balls?
- Thread starter timberjack86
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I know they eat hickory nuts. Actually watched them one spring while turkey hunting. There pretty good at cracking them with there mouth.I just cant figure what else they would be eating under a bunch of sweet gums.
TnBullet
Well-Known Member
Never seen one eating gum balls. Actually, never seen anything eating gum balls..
Diehard Hunter
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There would be nothing in a sweet gum ball for them to eat. By the time they hit the ground they already opened and dropped their tiny little seeds. All that is left is undigestible wood.
Football Hunter
Well-Known Member
I wouldnt think so
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
If they did, I would have a herd in my front yard. I hate those things. You can't suck um up with a mower. You can't blow um away. They stop up gutters. They never go away and fall all year long. Iv'e busted more than once trying to walk on them. If somebody could invent something they are good for, I would be rich. I had a dog once losing weight and couldn't eat. I looked in her mouth and a gumball was stuck in the roof of her mouth. It would have killed her eventually. BTW, my wife won't let me cut the tree down. If you find out if deer eat them, I am definately going to try and raise one for a pet. I got all the food she can eat.
What could the be eating under the sweetgum trees? There is no other type of tree close enough or plant that they could be eating. I just assumed thats the only thing they could be eating. 
Football Hunter
Well-Known Member
Without being there its hard to say,deer will browse on many many things,but I highly doubt it sweet gum balls,gotta be something else.Or maybe there was some smell there that had their interest.timberjack86 said:What could the be eating under the sweetgum trees? There is no other type of tree close enough or plant that they could be eating. I just assumed thats the only thing they could be eating.
I would say if they were eating sweet gum balls,they would be at the brink of starvation,and that would be much more likely in Feb.
Crosshairy
Well-Known Member
Slightly off topic, but I've been told that you can have a sweetgum tree treated so that it won't produce anymore (sort of like giving it birth control, I guess). Anyone tried this?
Diehard Hunter
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Check for mushroom stems. There have been alot of mushrooms coming up lately around here, and the deer have been wearing them out.
primos32
Well-Known Member
I saw a squirrel eating a sweetgum ball this morning in my back yard. Never seen a deer eat one though.
I checked it looks like they were sorting through the leaves like when they feed on acorns. Thats why I thought about the sweetgum balls :crazy:
catman529
Well-Known Member
chainsawCrosshairy said:
Pursuit Hunter
Well-Known Member
You sure it wasn't turkey sign you saw? They could be looking for bugs.
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
Crosshairy said:
Believe it or not I looked this up. Desperate I guess. Anyway, you can spray them with a chemical that prevents the germination from producing their fruit (ie gumballs). The only problem is renting a helicopter to spray my 70 ft tall tree from the top. Oh yeah, has to be done annually to be effective and at the exact right time. Good luck.
Im thinking about arsenic injections and then telling my wife; I don't know why that tree died.
BSK
Well-Known Member
camoman270 said:
I'm not sure which species of hickory it is, but one of them produces a nut with a much thinner shell. I have seen where deer were eating these, mostly on the Plateau and in the eastern mountains.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Just remember that there is a big difference between what deer will eat (virtually anything if they are hungry enough) and what deer prefer to eat. When hungry enough, deer will eat cedars, tree bark, and even dead leaves off the ground.
Deer must keep their stomachs full. If they do not, the bacteria in their stomach will die. Deer must have these bacteria to survive. These bacteria provide a far more important role than just breaking down a deer's stomach contents. These bacteria actually eat plant material and convert it into the necessary nutrients for a deer's survival, and it is digestion of the bacteria themselves that provide those nutrients. In essence, the bacteria don't just break down the food in a deer's stomach to make it more digestible, the bacteria literally are the deer's actual food. The bacteria simply live off of what the deer eat.
Deer must keep their stomachs full. If they do not, the bacteria in their stomach will die. Deer must have these bacteria to survive. These bacteria provide a far more important role than just breaking down a deer's stomach contents. These bacteria actually eat plant material and convert it into the necessary nutrients for a deer's survival, and it is digestion of the bacteria themselves that provide those nutrients. In essence, the bacteria don't just break down the food in a deer's stomach to make it more digestible, the bacteria literally are the deer's actual food. The bacteria simply live off of what the deer eat.
Around here they eat spignut hickory cause thats all that's left. Squirrels dont like them like shag bark hickory nuts. Also the few times I have observed deer feeding on hickory nuts has been late winter or early spring.When deer foods are least plentiful. I am sure its safe to say hickory nuts are not a preferrd deer food until almost everything else is gone.BSK said:
