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!).
Reader John Ford of Laconia, New Hampshire, shared the top photo of “strange deposits on a beech tree” the same day Jim Cummings of Kennebunk, Maine, sent in the bottom photo of a similar phenomenon beneath a stand of hemlock trees. What is this?
It’s slime mold, a cool phenomenon that “change(s) color, shape and texture” as it develops, as noted in this post on Mary Holland’s Naturally Curious blog.
This week’s contest winner was Micki Colbeck