What in the Woods Is That?

Play our biweekly guessing game!

Whatever draws us into the forest—be it birdwatching or logging, hiking or hunting—all of us are unified by the sense of wonder we feel in the outdoors. The forests, fields, and streams of our region are full of mystery, and if you stop and look closely, you’ll see all sorts of oddities.

Below find a picture of one such woodlands curio. Guess what it is and you’ll be eligible to win a Northern Woodlands woodpecker magnet designed by artist Liz Wahid. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner’s name, will appear when the next column is posted and in our newsletter (sign up here!).

Apple-up-a-Tree Mystery

Forester and naturalist Lynn Levine snapped this picture last fall. In all, there were about 25 apples in the crooks of trees at different heights – 10 feet in the air, near the ground, and every height in between. “It looked like an Easter egg hunt,” she recalls. She makes a pretty convincing case that she knows whodunit. Do you?

Answer

Red Squirrel

We asked Lynn how she could be sure it was a red squirrel, and she indicated that each apple had clear teeth marks in it. She initially suspected porcupine, but found no sources that indicated that porcupines cache food. Red squirrels do squirrel away food, though. And the teeth on a red squirrel skull she had at home matched the marks on the apples perfectly.

Lynn has a new kids’ book out called Snow Secrets – a work of fiction that details the tracking adventures of two six-year-old girls. To learn more about the book, check out http://heartwoodpress.com/

This week’s contest winner was Jackie Donnelly of Saratoga Springs, NY. We had over 50 correct answers!