Oaks, mice, spongy moths aka gypsy moths.
I had no idea that this relationship was so important.
Excellent video otherwise, too. Great footage.
Steve being a MA Yankee he can likely relate.
Another excellent video on oaks as an ecological keystone.
In an article about the history of squirrels in New York, Sadie Stein wrote that in 1968 100,000 drowned squirrels were pulled out of a reservoir. This mass death was linked to a phenomenon that occurred across the eastern United States called the Great Squirrel Migration. After a robust year for acorns in 1967, squirrel births skyrocketed. Unfortunately, that plenty was temporary; 1968 was an unusually bad year for acorns, and it is likely that squirrels left their usual homes in search of more food. In September of that year, hundreds of thousands died on highways, or while crossing bodies of water. Squirrels are not agile swimmers, using a kind of doggy-paddle technique that requires a lot of energy to cross a short distance, and they are known to die of exhaustion when crossing bodies of water.
Oaks control their seed predators.
Gambel Oak – Quercus gambelii in the Pinos Altos mountains north of Silver City in the Gila National Forest, Southern New Mexico. Measured at 98 feet tall. Michael Martin Meléndrez
Bonus pic
An exceptional Gambel Oak in Steve’s bailiwick.