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!).

Final Wintery Mystery

One last (hopefully) snow scene. A reader happened upon this stirred up patch of bloody snow last weekend on a backcountry ski high in the Green Mountains. What do you suppose caused this commotion? Look carefully and you’ll spot a few clues left behind.

Answer

A moose attempted to groom itself in an effort to rid itself of winter ticks. Some clumps of moose hair were also shed in the snow. By late April, moose carrying large populations of winter ticks (which can number in the tens of thousands per moose) are often weak from the collective blood loss as well as from increased energy spent to maintain body heat due to missing hair. It is unclear whether the blood in the snow is directly related to the damage done by the ticks.

This week’s contest winner was Chris Alexopoulos