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!).

Derrière Distinction

Despite those wildlife glamour shots we all love, the truth is that we often glimpse only the backside of a creature as it hurries out of sight. Here’s a posterior shot, taken near a garden in Thetford, Vermont. Whose tail is this?

Answer

This is the back end of a hairy-tailed mole. If you follow Northern Woodland’s This Week in the Woods, you may have noticed this mole’s front end, featured recently. For more about hairy-tailed moles, check out this Outside Story essay from our archives.

This week’s contest winner was Conrad Rhicard