• Mast is an important food source for squirrels, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, black bear and several species of non-game wildlife.
Arguably, white oaks are the most important tree species to wildlife in Kentucky forests.
According to the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service there are four native species of white oaks in Kentucky: White Oak, Quercus alba; Bur Oak, Quercus macrocarpa, Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus, and Chinkapin Oak, Quercus muehlenbergii.
White oak acorns are preferred because they are sweet, which makes them more palatable. Acorns produced by red oaks contain tannin, which makes them bitter.
White oaks can produce acorns every year but entire crops can be lost or compromised due to late freezes or heavy rains just as their flowers are being pollinated, and summer droughts can impact acorn production, by stunting or killing acorns.
Drought conditions and hot weather this past summer affected white oaks and other mast-producing trees. By September, when acorns ripen, some trees were showing signs of heat stress, dropping their nuts prematurely or their leaves were shriveling.
The 2024 Statewide Mast Survey, conducted by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) found the percentage of trees with mast was: white oaks, 42 percent; red oaks, 79 percent; hickory, 44 percent, and beech, 29 percent.
The mast survey, typically conducted between August 15 and September 1, began in 1953 to assess each year’s crop of nuts. Biologists walk the same route every year to determine the percentages of trees bearing mast.
In years when the mast crop is sparse, deer and wild turkeys are more vulnerable to hunters because they move around more to find food. In years of plenty, deer and turkey harvests are likely to decrease, because food sources are available everywhere so there isn’t as much game movement.
• November 1 is the beginning of rabbit season in Kentucky.
KDFWR Small Game Program Coordinator Cody M. Rhoden is predicting a banner year for rabbit hunting across Kentucky, citing “the wet spring then summer dryness,” which benefited rabbit reproduction. “The Rural Mail Carrier Survey is up around 1990 level which is a huge jump from years past.”
Fluctuations in Kentucky’s rabbit population are tracked two ways.
The Rural Mail Carrier Survey, which has been conducted for 63 years, is based on rabbits seen per 100 miles as postal service employees travel their rural delivery routes during six delivery days in July.
The Rural Mail Carrier Survey provides a glimpse of what can be expected for the upcoming hunting season. Although no population estimates can be derived from the data, it provides valuable trend information showing whether the population is up, down, or stable.
Hunter Cooperator Logs, a voluntary hunter program, tracks the number of rabbits jumped per hour afield.
The state is divided into two management zones.
In the eastern zone, 91 central and eastern Kentucky counties, the season dates are November 1-8, and November 11 through January 31, 2025.
In the western zone, 29 counties in the western third of Kentucky counties, the season dates are November 11 through February 10, 2025.
The daily bag limit is four rabbits.
Kentucky has three species of rabbits, but only the eastern cottontail is found statewide.
Populations of swamp rabbits and Appalachian cottontails are much smaller, and only found regionally.
All three rabbit species offer unique hunting opportunities.
The eastern cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus, is present in all 120 Kentucky counties. In fact, the eastern cottontail is the most abundant of the nine species of cottontail rabbits found in the U.S.
Historically, the highest populations have been in the Knobs/Outer Bluegrass Region and the Eastern Coalfields. This is because rabbit numbers are tied to early stages of plant succession, which includes areas where timber has been harvested, or where soil has been disturbed by agriculture.
Adults weigh two to four pounds and coloration is brownish gray, with black and white hairs.
Cottontails are quite agile, able to run up to 18 miles per hour and can jump 10 to 15 feet.
The swamp rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus, is the largest of the three species, and found in western Kentucky, associated with river bottom wetlands, and islands in the lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Swamp rabbit numbers have declined because of the loss of habitat. There are isolated pockets with higher numbers, but no means is this rabbit abundant. Populations tend to fluctuate greatly from year to year.
River bottom hardwoods, that periodically flood, and canebrakes, are preferred habitat. Swamp rabbits have been found as far east as the lower Green River, but they are more common in the Purchase Region.
Swampers have a home range of 11 to 27 acres. They are at home in water, with webbing between their toes to help them swim and walk through mud. They have been known to hide underwater with only their nose above the surface.
Adults can weigh up to six pounds and distinctive coloration includes rust-colored feet and a black spot between their ears.
Swamp rabbits run in a zigzag pattern and in a burst of speed can reach an unbelievable 48 miles per hour.
The Appalachian cottontail, Sylvilagus obscurus, lives in the same habitat as the ruffed grouse.
It is strictly a woodland species, but often found around abandoned hill farms, or strip mines.
Very similar in coloration to the eastern cottontail, the Appalachian cottontail is the smallest of the three species. It can only be differentiated from the eastern cottontail by details on their skulls. It was not described in the scientific literature as a separate species until 1992.
This rabbit has been found in some counties of the Cumberland Plateau, as far west as Lincoln and Boyle counties, but not much is known about its distribution in eastern Kentucky.
Like the ruffed grouse, numbers of Appalachian cottontail rabbits have declined because forests in eastern Kentucky’s mountain counties are growing into maturity, with less open land in shrubs, undergrowth, and saplings. The Appalachian cottontail is found at high elevations from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, and is closely related to the New England cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis.
• Black bears in Kentucky are expanding their range.
Research biologists with the KDFWR have found that “resident female bears are wandering farther from their home territories than usual to start their families,” wrote Ciara Knisely in an article in the summer edition of Kentucky Afield magazine.
KDFWR monitors bear range expansion through yearly den surveys, DNA sample collection, and collaring animals with GPS-enabled transmitters to track them.
It is estimated that the state’s black bear population has grown to an estimated 1,500 animals, accomplished organically through the recolonization of bears into Kentucky from states bordering Kentucky’s southeastern counties.
The article stated that the “core range of black bears includes parts of McCreary, Whitley, Bell, Harlan, Letcher, Perry and Pike counties, with a more recent expansion westward into Wayne County. Bears have their highest concentrations along the forested ridges of Pine, Cumberland and Black mountains. As their resident range has grown, bears can now be found in an additional 32 counties in eastern Kentucky.”
There have been isolated sightings of bears as far west as Daviess County, but biologists say these sightings are likely male bears, that tend to roam long distances in the spring.
For information on hunting black bears in Kentucky, visit fw.ky.gov/Bear-Hunting.
