I live in an White Oak and Red Oak forest.

Over the past near 20 years, we have had years that have nearly buried us in acorn... about every 3-5 years we get a really light year for the White Oaks. This year is one. Last year we had such a HUGE bumper crop from the White Oaks... so much that we got a rented dump trailer from the city... it overloaded the wheels and they had to inflate the tires harder.

Red Oaks seem to be consistent from year to year. Once in a while we get a bumper crop of acorns in about 3 days of acorn fall. Last year Red oaks had a HUGE acorn fall from the Red Oaks, after the White Oaks dropped.

So, we had a huge number of squirrels early this year in the area. This year we also had a good amount of caterpillar infesting... not very bad this year, but enough to probably affect things.

I think its just cyclic as far as acorn yield. If it happens a few year in a row, then we need to worry, so far it is a one year series.