Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Watch for it to be browsed early in the spring. That’s when I see the most use.
Take a walk with me through the prairie......
- Thread starter Native Hunter
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Watch for it to be browsed early in the spring. That’s when I see the most use.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Time to walk again and today we will look at three plants:
Facts about Poison Ivy:
Facts about Everlasting Sweet Pea:
Facts about Deptford Pink:
- Poison Ivy
- Everlasting Sweet Pea
- Deptford Pink
Facts about Poison Ivy:
- Many humans have severe allergic reactions to poison ivy, but most animals are immune to the poison. I have read that other than primates that hamsters are the only other animals known to have allergic reactions.
- Deer and rabbits will readily eat all parts of the plant. It isn’t uncommon to see it browsed at any time of the year.
- The appearance of the plant can be highly variable. It can assume the form of a low shrub or it can be a long woody vine that can climb high in trees.
- In my prairie I generally see it around the edges but seldom out in the middle of the fields.
Facts about Everlasting Sweet Pea:
- This is a perennial vine, but there are several similar wild peas that can be annual or perennial. The wildlife value of them are similar.
- The seeds are poisonous, but the foliage is browsed by deer and rabbits. I would rate it as a medium preference browse.
- This plant can be very competitive and take a lot of ground up in some areas. In my fields, that hasn’t been the case. I only see it scattered here and there.
Facts about Deptford Pink:
- This is a small and beautiful wildflower that insects will use, but I have never seen it browsed by deer.
- I only see it occasionally, and it isn’t very competitive in my fields.
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KSQ2
Well-Known Member
I did quite a bit of walking on our place yesterday hanging stands. The corn planted into the ag ground was rained on heavily the night after planting and as a result much of the corn, especially in the low spots didn’t come up. Maybe because he saw it as a lost cause, he didn’t spray glyphosate again after the corn gained height. The result has been weeds flourishing in parts of the field, feasting on the nitrogen I’m sure. It probably looks like a nightmare to a farmer, but the deer are loving it. The smorgasbord of forbs are getting pounded by the deer as well as being used for cover. I couldn’t help but think of this thread, as I walked past variety after variety of weeds that had been browsed heavily. These deer have options too, there’s over 480 acres of beans to be had nearby. I’m betting the quail are loving it as well.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Good observations KSQ2 and thanks for sharing.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Good read. Some random observations; Maybe God put poison ivy and rattlesnakes on this earth so that we humans have something to practice our machetes on.Time to walk again and today we will look at three plants:
Pic of Poison Ivy (but see notes below about variability of appearance):
- Poison Ivy
- Everlasting Sweet Pea
- Deptford Pink
Facts about Poison Ivy:
Pic of Everlasting Sweet Pea
- Many humans have severe allergic reactions to poison ivy, but most animals are immune to the poison. I have read that other than primates that hamsters are the only other animals known to have allergic reactions.
- Deer and rabbits will readily eat all parts of the plant. It isn’t uncommon to see it browsed at any time of the year.
- The appearance of the plant can be highly variable. It can assume the form of a low shrub or it can be a long woody vine that can climb high in trees.
- In my prairie I generally see it around the edges but seldom out in the middle of the fields.
Facts about Everlasting Sweet Pea:
Pic of Deptford Pink
- This is a perennial vine, but there are several similar wild peas that can be annual or perennial. The wildlife value of them are similar.
- The seeds are poisonous, but the foliage is browsed by deer and rabbits. I would rate it as a medium preference browse.
- This plant can be very competitive and take a lot of ground up in some areas. In my fields, that hasn’t been the case. I only see it scattered here and there.
Facts about Deptford Pink:
That’s it for today guys. We have made it up to my buckwheat patch. It was so dry that I thought it wasn’t going to come up, but a few rains did the trick. I’m going to go check for browsing and we will walk again soon.
- This is a small and beautiful wildflower that insects will use, but I have never seen it browsed by deer.
- I only see it occasionally, and it isn’t very competitive in my fields.
You have some crownvetch growing in that otherwise perfect buckwheat patch. Better spray it with roundup before it attracts some deer and they eat your nice buckwheat too.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I tricked you. That’s volunteer partridge pea instead of crownvetch. They look a lot alike at that stage.
The buckwheat is being browsed well. In a few weeks I will scatter some fall seed in it and mow the BW down on them.
TX-Aggie
Active Member
Pretty sure I got a rash from just seeing that poison ivy picture.
I'm enjoying your prairie tour - I find myself sending links to your posts often to my father and uncle as examples of what I have in my head for our property. They get glimpses of light before returning to "our deer are eating the fescue, why would we change what is working?".
Just got to keep chipping away and making changes when I get an opportunity - I do have somewhat free reign to work the immediate area around my stand. I have finally killed out most of the fescue and sericea lespedeza, only to be inundated with Broomsedge Bluestem. While not the greatest, it does stand up through rifle season for us, which gives the deer a lot more security feeling than the "flat" fescue and dead sericea lespedeza. Hunting an electrical right away between two oak flats - anything that slows the deer crossing is a plus in my book.
I'm enjoying your prairie tour - I find myself sending links to your posts often to my father and uncle as examples of what I have in my head for our property. They get glimpses of light before returning to "our deer are eating the fescue, why would we change what is working?".
Just got to keep chipping away and making changes when I get an opportunity - I do have somewhat free reign to work the immediate area around my stand. I have finally killed out most of the fescue and sericea lespedeza, only to be inundated with Broomsedge Bluestem. While not the greatest, it does stand up through rifle season for us, which gives the deer a lot more security feeling than the "flat" fescue and dead sericea lespedeza. Hunting an electrical right away between two oak flats - anything that slows the deer crossing is a plus in my book.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I'm glad you are getting some enjoyment from the thread. Broomsedge Bluestem gets tall enough in some areas to make some pretty good cover. It usually gets at least 5 feet high in my area, which is much better than fescue like you said.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Talking about a rash, once a city slicker gets around to using poison ivy for toilet paper one time, they will be 100% country from there on out. (and will be doing all their driving standing up for a while)
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Let’s begin our journey again. Today we will look at the following plants – two really great ones and one that can be invasive
Pictures of Chicory:
Facts about Chicory:
Facts about Jewelweed:
Facts about Sericea Lespedeza:
- Chicory
- Jewelweed
- Sericea Lespedeza
Pictures of Chicory:
Facts about Chicory:
- The chicory we plant in food plots is the same plant as wild chicory, but more than likely you are planting an improved variety of one of the “forage varieties.”
- The main difference between wild chicory and forage chicory is that forage varieties have been bred for larger leaf size, and more palatability of the stems and leaves. The better varieties have less tannins, which is one of the factors that increases the palatability.
- Deer will eat wild chicory, but it isn’t quite as palatable as forage chicory. Wild chicory in NWSG fields is desirable but don’t expect it to be grazed quite as hard as forage chicory.
- I really like chicory in both food plots and NWSG fields. Forage chicory in food plots is one of the most versatile and desirable deer plants available.
- The cattle industry is beginning to get very interested in chicory and realizes its positive attributes as a forage plant. It is now believed by many that chicory can induce a direct and broad antiparasitic activity against various GI parasites in different livestock species. If that is the case, deer could also be beneficiaries of this action. I’m not a scientist, but I know that the health and quality of my deer have vastly improved since I introduced chicory to their diets several years ago.
Facts about Jewelweed:
- Jewelweed is a native annual that is a highly desirable deer browse. It will be browsed by even the most picky deer.
- There are two types – yellow flower and orange flower. My place has the orange flower as shown above in the pictures. Both are the same in terms of wildlife value.
- It will be found on low ground – especially along ditches and streams. It prefers full sun but does fine in partial shade.
- If you have jewelweed present, you can promote it by killing other plants that compete with it. Gly spraying of other plants before JW germinates will make it flourish.
Facts about Sericea Lespedeza:
- This is an introduced species. Even though it will be browsed when young and tender, it is not a desirable plant due to it having invasive tendencies.
- Birds eat the seed and that is the main way it can spread.
- It is not as invasive on my farm as some locations I have known. The tall NWSGs make it hard for the SL to take over.
- Gly and 24D will generally not kill it.
- Don’t confuse SL with some of the desirable native lespedezas. If you have any doubt, get a county agent or Fish & Wildlife guy to look at it. We have native lespedezas that are very beneficial to several different species of wildlife, and these should be promoted in the prairie rather than killed.
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Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Let’s walk some more. We will do a short trip today and look at the two milkweeds that grow on my place and one other plant - Common Milkweed, Butterfly Milkweed and Purple Passion Flower.
Picture of Common Mikweed:
Facts about common milkweed:
Facts about Butterfly Mlkweed:
Facts about Purple Passion Flower:
Picture of Common Mikweed:
Facts about common milkweed:
- There are a host of different insects that feed on this plant.
- Deer and other mammals don't eat this plant because of the bitterness of the leaves and their toxic properties.
- I like seeing them scattered here and there because of the beauty that they bring, but primarily being a deer manager, I wouldn’t want to see a tremendous lot of these plants.
Facts about Butterfly Mlkweed:
- My comments on this plant are pretty much the same as Common Milkweed.
- Even though this plant has less of the milky latex like substance than other milkweeds, deer and other mammals seem to avoid it.
Facts about Purple Passion Flower:
- This is not a plant that you will see deer browse.
- It produces green seed pods about the size of a chicken egg. I’ve never seen the pods eaten by anything.
- I do see bees and other insects use the flowers.
- This plant can really become invasive in a new prairie after a gly kill is done and before the grasses and other plants become established. I once saw a 5 acre field taken over by it. A seed company wanted to collect the pods, and I allowed them to do it. They loaded a big horse trailer and two full sized pickups with pods. The leaf springs on the pickups were almost flat.
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
You are correct insects love milkweed. Especially the Monarch. And it can overwhelm poor ph fields.
I laugh about it because there is one internet hunting group I follow that are obsessed w having milkweed pods for determining wind direction. While I agree the seeds are good for that, they get bent out of shape when they find A plant and some even buy the seeds for hunting season. Cracks me up. I could make a million selling them seeds. Of course they also like to chase balloons in The woods.
A beautiful flower along w the goldenrod and many others when in fall bloom.
And did I miss something? You get a new tractor??
I laugh about it because there is one internet hunting group I follow that are obsessed w having milkweed pods for determining wind direction. While I agree the seeds are good for that, they get bent out of shape when they find A plant and some even buy the seeds for hunting season. Cracks me up. I could make a million selling them seeds. Of course they also like to chase balloons in The woods.
A beautiful flower along w the goldenrod and many others when in fall bloom.
And did I miss something? You get a new tractor??
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Dogghr, I’ve had that tractor for several years now. It’s a TN 70 D with a 10 foot Woods attached. Goldenrod is already flowering here and we will add it to the list of prairie plants soon.
Thanks for tagging along.
Triple C
Well-Known Member
Gonna have to add this thread to my Paul Knox saved threads. Love this darn thing. And surprising myself that I know more than I thought I did. I'm gonna post a pic of a plant that the deer are hammering on my place. Flowers look similar to the butterfly milkweed plant you posted and butterflies flock to it from now till the blooms are done. Deer are hammering it as well. I'll snap a pic and post it this weekend.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Another fact about milkweed; Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed, therefore the Monarch butterfly is also known as the “milkweed butterfly.” The milkweed plant provides all the nourishment the monarch needs to transform the Monarch caterpillar into the adult butterfly, but these plants are rapidly disappearing, due to the loss of habitat stemming from land development and the widespread spraying of weed killer on the fields where they live. So thanks for leaving some milkweed for the butterflies.Let’s walk some more. We will do a short trip today and look at the two milkweeds that grow on my place and one other plant - Common Milkweed, Butterfly Milkweed and Purple Passion Flower.
Picture of Common Mikweed:
Facts about common milkweed:
Pictures of Butterfly Milkweed:
- There are a host of different insects that feed on this plant.
- Deer and other mammals don't eat this plant because of the bitterness of the leaves and their toxic properties.
- I like seeing them scattered here and there because of the beauty that they bring, but primarily being a deer manager, I wouldn’t want to see a tremendous lot of these plants.
Facts about Butterfly Mlkweed:
Picture of Purple Passion Flower:
- My comments on this plant are pretty much the same as Common Milkweed.
- Even though this plant has less of the milky latex like substance than other milkweeds, deer and other mammals seem to avoid it.
Facts about Purple Passion Flower:
Time to quit walking and start working. A prairie needs a little attention from time to time, and we need some shooting lanes for the hunting season.
- This is not a plant that you will see deer browse.
- It produces green seed pods about the size of a chicken egg. I’ve never seen the pods eaten by anything.
- I do see bees and other insects use the flowers.
- This plant can really become invasive in a new prairie after a gly kill is done and before the grasses and other plants become established. I once saw a 5 acre field taken over by it. A seed company wanted to collect the pods, and I allowed them to do it. They loaded a big horse trailer and two full sized pickups with pods. The leaf springs on the pickups were almost flat.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Let’s start walking again and look at three plants today:
Facts About Pepperweed:
Facts about Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint:
That’s about it for today guys. I have a date with a pole. No, I’m not a pole dancer, it’s a different kind of pole.
- Hedge Bindweed
- Pepperweed
- Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint
- Not a preferred deer browse but they will nibble on it from time to time.
- The seed are eaten to some extent by quail, but it is not a major food source.
- There is a hedge bindweed and a field bindweed. They look similar and are much the same except that the hedge variety likes to climb more.
- Some insect value as with most flowering plants.
Facts About Pepperweed:
- Not really known as a great deer browse plant, but look at the picture below and you will see some browsing.
- More than one variety of this. An imported one is invasive in the western US. The one I have is not very prevalent. I only see it occasionally.
Facts about Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint:
- This plant has a minty smell and attracts a lot of insects.
- The seeds are too small to be of interest to birds.
- This plant is generally not browsed by deer when other plants are available.
- I only see this plant occasionally. It will usually be near a shady fence row.
That’s about it for today guys. I have a date with a pole. No, I’m not a pole dancer, it’s a different kind of pole.
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