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!).

The Munching Tree

An animal was eating the bark near the crown of this sumac tree. What kind of animal was it?

Answer

Cottontail rabbit. Had the picture been taken a month before it was, you would have seen a massive snowpile at the base of the sumac, deposited by a plow truck. The rabbit climbed the snowpile to access the tree’s crown.

This week’s contest winner was Mike Smith