There’s a lot to see on the forest floor in October, if you can look away from this year’s brilliant canopy display. Noticed on a recent walk: wildly variegated patches of hobblebush, purple aster, pale yellow hay-scented ferns, and a bumper crop of fungi, including rows of blazing orange jellies. In my woodlot, there also seems to be a lot more bear sign than usual, in the form of overturned rocks and torn wasp nests.
Or maybe I’m just noticing bear sign more frequently, because of the dog? Pompy, a Brittany spaniel, is an inquisitive adolescent who insists on sticking her nose in every burrow and rock crevice. Her favorite beauty treatment involves rolling in bear scat, and she has yet to discern between “wasp nest” and “chew toy.”
I spend much of my walking time looking down, worrying where her nose is going. There have been near-misses. And a non-miss; early this September, Pompy stuck her snoot into a yellow jacket hole. She got one sting. I run more slowly than she does, and got several. I now carry Benadryl in my walking coat.
Also noticed this fall: Maple leafcutters seem to have had a banner year. The forest floor of our sugarbush looks as if it has been attacked by an army of crazed hole-punchers. And has anyone else out there noticed a superabundance of hickory tussock moth caterpillars? These are furry white worms with black spikes. Despite the name they aren’t hickory specialists, and will happily feed on the leaves of other, more cold-hardy hardwoods. I’m pleased to report that Pompy shows no interest in eating caterpillars, although she’s death on moths.
What are you seeing in the woods now? We welcome your comments, and your submissions to our next (October) Readers’ Photo Gallery. A final seasonal note – this is a good time to view fog formations, especially in the early morning. Check out this essay from our archive.