March 1, 2020: The World is Falling Apart

We've been on another one of those New England weather roller coasters lately - cold, warm; windy, calm; rain, snow - you name it, we had it.  Of course, my preference (in winter) is the cold and snowy part.  Add in calm when the snow drifts down gently, and that's just about perfect.

Even the chick-a-dees agree with me.

Snowshoeing on one of the warm (50 degree!) misty days this week I came across a thriving community of rock tripe lichen on an exposed ledge of granite.

A wall of rock tripe lichen (Umbilicaria mammulata)

Lichen need no soil to exist - they pull all the nutrients they need directly from the air and from the rock to which they are attached.  The Latin word umbilicus means navel, which makes sense since each lichen draws sustenance through its single attachment point to the mother rock.

Lichen are a unique lifeform that can attach themselves directly to granite.

Rock tripe lichen are edible, and being one of the largest lichens in the world, can provide emergency food if stranded in the wilderness.  (The website NH Garden Solutions claims the soldiers at Valley Forge used rock tripe to survive the winter of 1777.)

That would make a hearty salad.

Not requiring soil, lichen are the very first life forms to take hold on a barren habitat.  After they attach themselves to minute depressions in the granite they start to take minerals from the rock, and through chemical erosion due to substances the lichen produces, they accelerate its decay.  [Bulletin of the American Bureau of Geology, Volume 2, pg 172]  As cracks and depressions enlarge, decomposing parts of the lichen collect with other debris, and soon there is a deposit of suitable soil for higher forms of life, allowing seeds from plants to find a toe hold.  Now the world really starts to fall apart:  Roots expand making cracks bigger, letting in even larger plants and soon enough, trees.

Over time, trees take over the granite landscape.

Water flows in as well, and when it freezes it splits the rock further.  As the bedrock falls apart it opens caves for animal shelter.

Comfy accommodations for bear, fox, porcupine.

So yes, the world is literally falling apart.  Fortunately, these tectonic plates on which we reside continue to float around on the liquid magnum below, and when they crash into each other they push up into the sky and give us new rock to replenish that which we lose.  It's the ultimate recycling machine.

And since all our animal life ultimately depends on  plants, it this these rocks and lichens that make all life possible, including the top level predators such as the bobcat.  I still haven't seen one this winter, but a friend saw one over on the shores of Meredith Bay just last week.

A sunset dinner cruise on Meredith Bay.

This pretty feline was walking along the shoreline in the late afternoon, probably starting out on its evening dinner run.  Cats aren't fond of liquid water, but they're happy to walk along on the ice at the shoreline looking for squirrels or mice feeding on seeds exposed on the banks.  This particular bobcat turned and stared right at the photographer for a time, evidently not startled by why it saw and didn't run off to find cover.

I see you, but you're too big to eat.

Thanks for sharing TW!

Before this latest blast of warm weather the skiing and snowshoeing was fabulous.  On one ski out on the lake the wind had blow a thin layer of snow over the snowmobile trails which gave away the fact that the foxes have been taking advantage of the packed trails for easy travel across the lake.

Fox prints in the snowmobile track.

There were miles of tracks where the fox followed the snowmobiles and some of the prints they left were beautifully precise.  This track showed two neat toenail depressions on each foot.

A bobcat with its retractable claws wouldn't leave claw marks.

The track pattern shows the foxes were in a gallop, moving along pretty quickly over the open lake:

Two sets of fox tracks here.

If it were trotting the tracks would all be in a straight line which is what I usually see in protected woods, or even trotting up the road after a snowfall.  Remember that a fox carries most its weight on its front legs, so the larger prints are from its front feet.

Front feet on the right, hind feet on the left.

The fox (and I of course) weren't the only ones taking advantage of the packed trails.  It's hard to see, so I circled them, but there were bird tracks in places as well.

These seem too small for turkey - I'm thinking crow.

I'll end with a couple of unnerving sights in February - I know today is March now, but it's still too early to be seeing these!

Roads posted on February 26.

Snowdrops are already pushing up their buds.

The maple sap will be flowing soon if this keeps up.  But we are skating again!

Traces of snow from those gray squall clouds dot the rain-smoothed ice.