Wildlife Hickory Tree

The Hickory Tree grows in forests from MA to Southeastern MN, and extend South to Eastern TX and GA, and will grow 70-100 ft. tall at maturity and begins to produce hickory nuts alternating with 1-3 year intervals between crops. The hickory tree may produce 2-3 bushels of nuts that are a great source of food for wildlife. Hickory wood is a very dense hardwood which can withstand hurricane strength winds, making it ideal for tools that require high impact such as bats, hammers and golf clubs. Hickory Trees have a bright, golden yellow coloring in the Fall that protect wildlife animals from predators before the leaves of most other trees change color, and hickory trees rank as one of the better species for planting on wildlife game grounds, and the tree is likely to thrive better in weak soils and very wet soils than other species. Many of the nuts begin falling on the ground early in the fall, but the shells are too hard for wildlife animals to crack until the winter rains come, and that softens the shells so that the birds and deer can eat the hickory kernels during the winter when wildlife food is so scarce.