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!).

Unidentified Paw

As our resident tracking expert Sue Morse is fond of pointing out, feet make tracks! What kind of paw are we looking at here?

Answer

Otter. The give away is the mesial webbing – the thin skin membrane that connects the five toes. This partial webbing allows an otter to move effectively on both land and water. Beavers have fully webbed feet. Fishers have no webbing.

We had 70 guesses and 33 correct answers.

This week’s contest winner was Diana Todd of Silver Spring, Maryland