Hickory Nut

As I venture out around the property, I am amazed by all the hickory nut shells laying on the ground.  They seem to be everywhere.  What's interesting to me is the make-up or multiple layers of the hickory nut.  You have to wonder about the wildlife that has the perseverance and strength to open one of these up to get to the nut meat.  This can be one hard shell to crack.  My teeth hurt just thinking about trying to crack it like I would suppose some animals do to get to the meat.

From what I've seen so far, there's a green outer covering (green when it first falls off the tree) which is somewhat soft at first but hardens as it turns brown. This nut or fruit or whatever one calls it is larger than a golf ball but smaller than a baseball when it first falls from the tree.  This outer layer is made up of four parts that close around a hard shell nugget about the size of a filbert nut or acorn.  Once that is cracked and split in two, one finally reaches the edible part.