Spring has sprung!! Ephemerals are peeking out with some classic edible treats, and some here to stay! Trout lilies, stinging nettle, and ramps pictured here (from left to right), are accompanied by some garlic mustard, cleavers, and dead nettles pioneering the way for greens!
Trout lilies offer an edible quality from leaf to roots. Once peeling off the papery outer layer, the corm is edible along with the leaves, with a flavor reminiscent to sweet pea sprouts. Stinging nettles young shoots add enormous nutritional content with a savory earthy flavor. Garlic Ramps have edible bulbs with an allium flavor along with the edible leaves… but for their conservation it can be best to just pluck a leaf from a plant here and there instead of uprooting them.
River Otter Looking Out Over River From Grassy River Bank
Otter slides and tracks leading to an opening in the frozen riverscape.
The December snows have revealed Otter Signs Aplenty! Slides, fishing holes, tracks, marking areas, and holts revealing themselves in the winter wonderland. Though the uncharacteristically balmy, December warmup has literally “dampened” many things, it has only enhances the scents in the air. The river banks that often offer fresh otter tracks and sign on the daily, now also offer a heavier “fishy” scent from their recent nocturnal romps. The melting snow reveals more and more scat and markings (the source of the fishier smell), indicating this river bank as a latrine. An otter latrine is where otters convene, or converge with other otters to communicate between each other socially by means of markings, usually within strong bounds of their home territory.
A pair of Grey Foxes passing through a clearing in the woods. One sniffing an apple piece’s lingering scent, while the other meanders westward. Caught in this same spot again, it is safe to say they are residents, as their territories often hover around one to four square miles.
Their presence has not warded off the Red Fox, nor the Coyote, as both have been spotted since. This winter’s snowfalls will provide some much needed deciphering of tracks as following a Grey Fox was once upon a time only a far-fetched dream. … one that reality has now surpassed.
First sighting of a pair of Grey Foxes visiting the usual spot where deer graze on apples. Raccoons, Red Fox, and Coyote are also regulars to this spot.
Rewilding By Means of Nature Forests, Foraging & Foxes
The Forest Walker 