wildlife management: wildlife foods
AUDIO CLIPS: Mississippi State University Extension Service Better Farming Radio Program with Tyson Gair: MSU Extension Forester Tim Traugott talks about some common and not-so-common forms of mast, nuts on the forest floor that serve as food for wildlife. REAL | MP3 Mississippi State University Extension Service Better Farming Radio Program with Tim Allison: Wildlife Biologist Steve Demarais talks about food plot management for White-tailed deer. REAL | MP3 Mississippi State University Extension Service Better Farming Radio Program with Tim Allison: Wildlife Specialist Adam Tullos talks about Wildlife Forage Plantings. REAL | MP3 Mississippi State University Extension Service Better Farming Radio Program with Tyson Gair: MSU Extension Forester Tim Traugott tells landowners how to grow oaks for acorn production to enhance wildlife habitat that it's possible to produce acorns much more quickly than ever imagined. REAL | MP3 |
Planting food supplements or forages can benefit many species including turkey, mourning doves, bobwhite quail and white-tailed deer. Knowing which foliage to plant and when to plant is essential when seeking to benefit wildlife in an area.
These resources have been compiled from various resources and agencies and are provided here for educational purposes only. Please if you find information that needs to be updated, broken links, or if you have an additional resource you feel is pertinent.
- Planting Warm-Season Forages for White-tailed Deer - Mississippi State University Extension Service. Overpopulation of deer, especially in the southeast, causes unhealthy herds due to insufficient food supplies. Nothing can replace native vegetation management, but food plantings can help meet the deer’s seasonal needs. This publication describes how to create warm season plantings including where to plant, what soil to use, and the food that should be planted. Detailed information about specific plants deer feed on is given.
- Soil Tests for Wildlife Food Plots - Mississippi State University Extension Service. Having the proper fertility and type of soil affects the population, distribution and quality of wildlife. Testing of soil is necessary for landowners. This publication tells landowners where they can pick up and send soil testing kits and how to use them.
- Growing and Managing Successful Food Plots for Wildlife in the Mid-South - University of Tennessee Extension. This extensive publication provides detailed information on creating food plots for white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, mourning doves and waterfowl. It also describes how to manage forage plots and unused logging roads for the benefit of wildlife. Four appendices are given that discuss the plants that can be used for food plots, if deer prefer them and their growth rates, inoculation of legume seed, and herbicides.
- Wildlife Food Planting Guide for the Southeast - Mississippi State University Extension Service. This guide provides information on food planting and habitat management practices. It covers disturbances that can benefit wildlife if handled properly including disking, mowing and prescribed burning. The importance of openings is also discussed. Habitat and food necessities for white-tailed deer, eastern wild turkeys, bobwhite quail, mourning doves, and waterfowl are given. A combination of supplemental forages in food planting is often necessary, as well as testing soil quality, fertilizing and liming. The location, size and shape of food plots as well as how to prepare them and which plants to use is included. An extensive guide on planting materials is given.
- Crops for Wildlife Plantings - Louisiana State University AgCenter Research and Extension. This publication explains approved planting, management, and harvest procedures for many plants in Louisiana used for wildlife management, and how to avoid turning these into illegal baiting. A chart on the seedbed preparation, seeding rates, planting rates and maturation period of warm and cool season plantings is given.
- Native Warm-Season Grass Restoration in Mississippi - Mississippi State University. This publication defines native warm season grasses, lists examples of the types of warm season grasses and provides labeled drawings of the types. It describes the benefits of restoring native grasses and how to do so. Information is provided on keeping different nonnative grass species under control. Information is also given on choosing and planting grass species in a way that restores ecosystems and is advantageous to wildlife or creates livestock forage. Use of periodic disturbances is also covered along with contact information for organizations that assist with management of warm season grasses.
- Supplemental Food and Cover Plantings for Bobwhite Quail in Mississippi
Mississippi State University Extension Service. A comprehensive management plan for the northern bobwhite, commonly known as the bobwhite quail, is important. If food is limiting the quail population in a location, one component of this plan may be to include supplemental food and cover plantings. These plantings can provide quality, abundant food to quail and may improve cover or nesting habitat as well. The types of plantings that can benefit quail are described in this publication as well as the management techniques for supplemental food and cover plantings and how to manage deer plantings for quail benefit. - A Landowner's Guide to Warm Season Grasses in the Mid-South
University of Tennessee. Native warm season grasses can be utilized to provide wildlife habitat and forage for domestic animals. Common native warm season grasses include big bluestem, little bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, sideoats grama, and eastern gamagrass. Identification, management, and uses for each grass is provided in this publication.
