Snowy walk in the woods

My most recent trip to the Blue Ridge Tract was with Trillium after our big 2 foot snow. By then the rain had melted some of the snow but the ground was still covered in the forest. I always look for insects when I am out and this time I found about five tent caterpillar egg cases on one small cherry tree. Most of them had been eaten into but one was still intact. I brought it home to see them hatch out and study them up close. I didn’t think the tree would mind and I can feed them to the birds.

Down by the wetland area Trillium noticed a hundred or more spider threads floating on the dead stems. Close inspection revealed a very tiny spider at the end of one strand. After they hatch, baby spiders let out a string of silk that blows in the wind. When they are ready they let go of their hold and are pulled away with the flying silk. This is called ballooning. Personally I think it is very gutsy because they have no idea where they will land. She also spotted another spider in a foot print.

We found two interesting fungi. One, seen below, is a type of puff ball. It is called Calostoma lutescens and I have found them before. I was excited to see these puffballs in a new location.

The other interesting fungi we found was a jelly fungi, called Auricularia auricula. The common name is Wood Ear or Tree Ear and according to Bill Roody in Mushrroms of West Virginia it is edible even raw and dries well for future consumption. It almost doesn’t look real but it is.

The thing that most excited us and occupied our attention was the animal tracks we could see in the snow. Deer and squirrel tracks were abundant. Here is a raccoon track showing those charastics toes they have.

The find of the day was Black Bear tracks. It was hard to believe but the size, shape and gait of the tracks didn’t lie. I knew black bears were up there but this was the first evidence I had personally seen.

We followed them up the fire road but didn’t peruse them into the woods. To me they looked old because our own tracks were going much deeper into the snow. I thought the bears would be snuggled up fast asleep by now but in our area they could still be found until January. You can bet this spring I will be looking for scat and other bear signs. Wanting to learn more about tracking I asked a fellow blogger who loves to track for good resources. Ellen Rathbone, replied with a very comprehensive blog on the subject. Be sure to visit her blog Adirondack Naturalist and check out her reply and other pages for examples.

You can also see Trillium’s thought on our walk at her blog simply called “Trillium”. There are signs of life in the woods everywhere and I can’t wait to get back out and look for more.

See more outdoor adventures at Outdoor Wednesdays.