An oak tree needs its acorns to
be planted in the forest soil.
But all it does is drop them on
the ground where they could quickly spoil.
An acorn is the oak tree’s fruit
containing seed and fatty food,
a kind of nut that bugs can drill
to lay their eggs where they can brood.
But once that acorn nut is used
by moths to make their baby’s home
the seed inside that acorn can
no longer live and can’t be grown.
Now squirrels are most passionate
about these tasty acorn nuts.
They eat them in large quantities
with cheeks so full they’re fit to bust!
They pick the perfect acorns last
and hide them in the forest soil,
returning in the winter-time
to dig them up and eat a meal.
But squirrels sometimes make mistakes,
forgetting where they buried some,
and so those planted acorns get
to grow as oak trees in the sun.
from “The Science Rhymes Book”