I heard 2 hunters discussing the issue of acorns souring after a rain. Anyone have any documented facts on this? I personally don't think so but could be wrong. If an acorn falls into a water hole and soaks for several days maybe so. What is your opinion or source of facts. Thanks Daniel

Depends on what is meant by 'sour'. IF taken literally (taste) then NO. If the term is used synonymous with 'decay' then over time....yes.

The 'bitterness' of an acorn is determined by it's tannin content. That is why deer prefer White Oak acorns over certain others...since they have less tannin content the deer find them more palatable.

If anything...being exposed to water would tend to let the tannin leach out of an acorn making it less sour. The Native Americans soaked acorns before grinding them for just this reason.

IF we use the term 'sour' to mean decay/decomposition....then rain combined with the nut sitting on the ground is naturally going to result in Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria affecting the outer shell and eventually the nut inside. But acorns are by design a durable item. A healthy acorn should remain viable for several months... rain or not.

If you think about it, many places... water (rain) is actually a dispersal agent for acorns. Transporting, relocating them great distances from the tree from which they fell.

If rain were to quickly 'ruin' an acorn then they would seldom have a chance to sprout anywhere except in a close proximity to where they dropped. Squirrels and rain water move a lot of acorns in many environments.

As concerns a 'healthy' acorn.....I doubt much more than 1/2 the mast crop falls to the ground without an acorn Weevil/Grub inside of it. We've all picked up an acorn with an obvious small hole in the shell. That hole is where the grub bored its way out.

These acorns typically look unmolested suggesting that Deer/Hogs/other have passed them over. I think all too often these acorns are thought to have 'soured'.

Not unlike other myths and partial truths, these things get passed on from one generation to the next without much thought given to it.

My Mother-in-Law to this day will argue that the foamy pod found on some Dew-Berry vines is 'Snake Spit' and not simply the protective covering and result of a 'Spittle Bug' doing its work, despite me having shown one to her. So a word to the wise. Some Old Wives Tales and traditions are best left alone, lest you yank some childhood beliefs out from under them.

Snake spit……I had forgot about that. I used to poke fun at my wife all the time for that old wives tale. She would always say, it’s true, my grandmama said so. Every time we would go pick dewberries I would tell her to watch out for them spittin snakes.

Yes, I would have left 'well enough' alone, except my (then 7 yr. old) Daughter was with us picking dewberries when my MIL pointed out some of the supposed 'snake spit' and cautioned her to be watchful.

I corrected that misinformation...at what I thought was out of ear shot. But nope, she heard it and exclaimed that was what she had been taught as a child.

So with no other real option....I peeled back the foamy layer on several plants and plucked out the small 'spittle bug'. Briefly 're'-explained what they do.

Rather than accept the new found information, she instead chose to be offended and at a later date told me she did not appreciate me making her look foolish in front of her granddaughter.

I told her that was never my intent, but that I wanted my daughter to know what was true and what is 'myth' and that I had tried to do that without challenging her beliefs.

But apparently....I underestimated the acuteness of her hearing and may have been guilty of poor timing.

Anyway, my Daughter learned the true origin of the 'Snake Spit' and won't go on to perpetuate that Old Wives Tale. I, on the other hand.... received a few demerits with the MIL, never to be forgotten.

But....what the hell, I don't have to live with her...right?