The acorns have been arriving at the Kane County Forest Preserve offices since naturalists put out word of the need.

Instead of leaving acorns for the squirrels, local oak tree owners brought them in bags, buckets and bushels. Most are – dutifully – identified by species as red, white, burr, pin, scarlet, white swamp or black, said Ben Haberthur, restoration ecologist with the forest preserve.

The purpose of the acorn collection is to counter the decline of oak trees by propagating new ones from the donated acorns, Haberthur said.