Deer walking with Nick

Instead of going to my spot like normal, Nick and I went into the woods for a walk. We had no expectations, but let our curiosity guide the way. I had the hankering to look at mosses and lichens while he was exploring plants. We found our respective tasks challenging and we certainly learned a lot through the struggles of "unclarity." I do think we found and properly identified the Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) [p176] along the edge of the trail. The three leaflets were lobed and toothed, as described in Pojar and MacKinnon's  Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Suddenly a game trail appeared and we felt the urge to follow it. Nick first wanted to look at a Bigleaf Maple (Acer Macrophyllum) while I went to the ground to sift through the mossy base of a Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera). And after an interlude of tasting and subsequently identifying and a not-so-licorice-tasting Licorice Fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza) rhizome, we embraced the Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus colombianus) which we assume made the path.

Sure enough... deer sign on the ground in the form of a pile of "Raisinettes!" And then another and another as we tracked its path for about a quarter mile. Though we may have strayed from the exact steps, hand it to us to look like deer and think like deer:
What is the path of least resistance? Where is a good place to take a break under shelter? What is there to eat right here? Where is the potable water?
We tracked it around a small patch of forest littered with tightly knit groves of Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) and tons of mosses. We explored the medicinal uses of Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus) while observing its new buds just breaking the surface of the branches.

Nick analyzed an approach of how one might climb a particularly huge Bigleaf Maple while i got back into the tiny moss forest world. In the end, I saw more capsules, operculum and peristomes... correctly noticing subtle differences between species. I made a go at trying to identify one and think I got it right: Fan Moss or Large Leafy Moss (Rhizomnium glabrescens).

Then we headed home because I was getting cold and we were both a little hungry. We tracked out using a path we found and picked up a lot of OLD trash along the way... One Mountain Dew can must have been sitting there since the 80's; it had logos I've never seen. We filled up a paint container (that we found in a clearing) with debris and brought it to the trailhead.

We decided to leave it there, perhaps as a small trash recepticle for others who might want to contribute to cleaning up our forest... In fact, we left it right next to the crap that some "Hippier-than-thou" Bellinghamster "didn't see" while s/he was riding a bike as his/her righteous dog deposited it so neatly. Yes, I have coined this phrase and will accordingly pursue putting the phrase onto bumper stickers.

Crisp but sunny afternoon sit

I crept into my Sit Spot from a new angle today. There were many people about so I quickly ducked off the trail and into a swampy watery thicket of thorny brambles. Don't worry, I wasn't too harmed... but I suspect that no one would want to follow me into the forest from the approach I took. Thus, it was perfect.

Upon arriving at my spot I immediately noticed the hair on the ground! It was definitely from a mammal. The questions came at me like a raging river, then some observations:
- What animal?
- How long ago?
- Was this a kill site?
- Did something bed down here and scratch the hair off itself?
- Why is there only white hair?
- What lives around here? Deer, coyote, cougar, bear, mouse, shrew...
- The hair is longer
- Are there any tracks?
- How did this animal approach this spot?
- Did I lead an animal here?
- Did I find an animal's sit spot?!

The quiet in the forest eventually soothed my brain chatter and questioning as I nodded off while leaning against my cedar tree. I found the strength to keep my eyes open for a bit and noticed new destruction at a "floating log." This was a tree that died and became a snag which eventually lost grip with the group and fell. It remains at an angle, however, because a different stump caught it's fall.

I explored the new wood chips and the newly created holes. Was this a bear? More likely to be the Hairy (or Downy) Woodpecker that I have so often seen in this patch of wood. Remember the Northern Flicker that has eluded me? Could be sign from her also. There was some dry material, leading me to believe that it happened very recently... even earlier today. Truth be told, I haven't been to my spot in three whole days, so I can't know exactly when this occurred.

I looked from different angles (using this word a lot in this post) and eventually found the perfect nest. A tucked away nook that is protected and seemingly dry. There was collected moss there and some bark and fine wood chips too. Is this the work of a rodent who nests in the nook or perhaps from one of the birds who frequents the area?

Then looked to another snag, also with recent work done. Tremendous amounts of debris was ripped out of the base on the snag, more than I remember seeing before. And from three different angles. I immediately thought this was the work of a black bear. I found a hole that I attribute to a possible claw. Being that these two sites are only 20 feet from one another was it the same critter? It's warmed up recently... could be a bear... deer hair near here too?

No conclusions for sure, but most likely not a bear. I want to go back to the second snag though and collect some of the very fine wood powder that still remains inside. I think it was dry... maybe it will make for good fire starter.