Outdoor Trivia: What do you know?

To wrap up 2014, test your outdoor knowledge with the third annual year-end outdoor trivia quiz. 

1. Fish use what to obtain oxygen?

a. Mouth

b. Nose

c. Gills

2. Do white-tailed deer have upper canine teeth?

a. Always

b. Never

c. Sometimes

Not your Christmas mistletoe

Tis’ the season for mistletoe hanging in doorways to add romantic cheer. True mistletoe may spread cheer but another mistletoe--dwarf mistletoe--doesn’t spread cheer throughout the year. 

Dwarf mistletoe is anything but romantic for conifer trees because once infected a conifer most likely will die prematurely. 

For many people, dwarf mistletoe is most often recognized by the “witches’ brooms” it creates on conifers. The large mass of small twigs and branches is an abnormal proliferation varying from tight clumps to large loose fans depending on the species.

Dwarf mistletoe causes conifers to produce an abnormal proliferation of branches along the trunk called "witches' broom"

How do deer survive winter eating twigs?

A deer munches on the tips of young trees, ripping the leafless twigs from the plants. Surviving the winter on twigs isn’t very nutritious but the stomachs of deer are equipped to squeeze all the nutrients they can out of the tough twigs.

Deer prefer the tips of branches because they are the most nutritious and easiest to bite off

All ruminants (the deer family, antelopes, sheep, goats, cattle and giraffes) sustain themselves on leaves, twigs, grass and other plant matter since they are herbivores. To extract the most from plant matter, ruminants have a four-chambered stomach--not four stomachs as some people say. 

Blister rust decimated white pine forests

The western white pine was the most abundant forest type in the Inland Northwest 50 years ago. Long, clear trunks skyrocketed to heights of 200 feet which isn’t large compared to other conifers. But their tenacity to grow fast after fires and their resistance to many diseases allows them to be ecologically successful.

Fire provides openings for the fast-growing seedlings to outcompete other conifers and dominate the forest canopy for over 200 years. However, western white pine aren’t as resistant to fire as ponderosa pine or larch. 

Western white pine seedlings can become established in moderately shady areas, like beneath a mature pine, but mature pines prefer full sun

Western white pine can be recognized by the bundles of five slender needles that are three to five inches long. At high elevations, whitebark pine and western white pine can be confused since both have five needles. However, western white pine needles have a whitish-blue appearance and whitebark pine needles have a yellowish-green appearance. 

Daddy longlegs not spiders or venomous

As a child I remember daddy longlegs in the basement bathroom, especially in the shower. Not liking spiders, I never got close and took quick showers. I also believed the legend that daddy longlegs had enough venom to kill a person but their mouths weren’t big enough to bite us. 

Daddy long legs typically have eight legs but the legs fall off easily when grabbed by a predator

Not until later did I find out that daddy longlegs weren’t spiders and the legend is a myth. 

25 turkey facts to gobble up

Thanksgiving brings turkeys into the spotlight which usually is detrimental to them. So here are 25 turkey tidbits to ponder while your turkey is cooking in the oven.

1. A male turkey is a tom, a female turkey is a hen and baby turkeys are called poults. Juvenile males are called jakes. A group of turkeys is called a flock.

Poults leave the nest within 12 to 24 hours of hatching

2. Male turkeys are also called gobblers because of the “gobble” call they use to announce themselves to females. The gobble can be heard up to a mile away.

3. Wild turkeys make fifteen different vocalizations, including a “purr”, “yelp”, “kee-kee” and a clicking noise made by the females.

4. In addition to gobbling, toms impress hens by fanning their large tail, drooping their wings and strutting. 

Western hemlock tolerate life in the shadows

Fastest. Strongest. Survival of the fittest. When push comes to shove in nature, usually the weak or meek don’t survive. And in the case of trees, the towering giants bask in the sun and shade out their competition--at least in theory. 

A drooping top is one way to identify western hemlocks

Waiting in the shadows of some towering Douglas-fir and western redcedar are inconspicuous western hemlock. Often recognized by their droopy tops, western hemlock survive where many other species cannot--in the shade. 

By no means are western hemlock shade-loving trees. Instead they are shade tolerant trees. Western hemlock grows abundantly in the shade of mature trees waiting for them to topple and then they bolt upwards to the open canopy. 

Frogs breathe through skin and swallow with their eyes!

In the spring, I’m always listening for the first robin to sing and the first frog to ribbit. But in the fall, I never know if an insect song or frog croak will be the last I hear until spring. 

Just a few weeks ago a frog croaking caught my attention. Not only because it was October and I thought the frog should be settled in for winter (though it has been unseasonably warm) but because I heard it on a dry, ponderosa pine hillside. What was a frog doing up there away from water? 

Columbia spotted frog

Shouldn’t frogs be down in the mud on the bottom of ponds with turtles for the winter? Apparently not.