Beech houses, and log cabins. Beech wood is used for the stocks of military rifles when traditionally preferred woods such as walnut are scarce or unavailable or as a lower-cost alternative. The fruit of the beech tree, known as beechnuts or mast, is found in small burrs that drop from the tree in autumn. They are small, roughly triangular and edible, with a bitter, astringent, or in some cases, mild and nut-like taste. They have a high enough fat content that they can be pressed for edible oil. Fresh from the tree, beech leaves in spring are a fine salad vegetable,
Beech marten in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, and in nearby woodlands of Walworth, Racine, Waukesha and probably Jefferson Counties. North American beech martens are likely descended from feral animals that escaped a private fur farm in Burlington during the 1940s. They have also been listed as being released or having escaped in 1972. "" British zoologist George Rolleston theorised that the "domestic cat" of the Ancient Greeks and Romans was in fact the beech marten. Pioneering marine biologist Jeanne Villepreux-Power kept two tame beech martens. Although the beech marten is a valuable animal to the fur trade, its pelt is inferior