I have to admit, I like bones. I like wandering the deer trails in the spring to find sheds. It is a handy excuse to just get out and enjoy the hills and valleys before spring rushes in.
Once it greens up most of the forest is nearly impassable with undergrowth. At one time these woods were pasture for beef cattle. The cattle kept the forest 'clean' and it was like wandering through a park. Now it is wild. Fifteen years after the cattle were sold, the place is has become the Wild Forest.
I decided Sunday morning to take a 'quick' trip down to the east end of the valley to see if I could find some Skunk Cabbage and perhaps find a Marsh Marigold. After 30 years of wandering this valley, I've got a fairly good idea of when these first flowers of spring appear.
I headed out to the point and then followed a deer trail that twisted down the hillside to the creek. I'd been out 'shed' hunting the day before and found only a small skull of a nubbin' buck.
Bonus! Right there!
I picked it up and tied it to my back pack.
I was in a hurry to get to the Spring but paused when I saw a pattern on the north bank. Mosses and Lichen are my new interests, so I grabbed my cell phone and took these shots. I checked the landmarks so I could stop by on my way back and try a better photo.
I love the name of this moss. Common Liverwort. Um, or a Hornwort? Goodness, it is hard to tell!
Sort of makes me want to make up names for it. I want to call them Hogworts!
There is a little teeny tiny one I want to find called an Earwort. But I may need to start carrying a magnifying glass!
Even cooler?
Snakeskin Liverwort.
Yes I looked up the proper name, but I thought this common name was more descriptive.
It grows next to the spring with other moss.
And I think it could be the same type of moss that I took the photos above with.
[If you click on the picture, you can see it larger]
Then this little beauty. Scarlet Elf Cup Fungi in moss...
And then I saw a glimmer of purple.
After a bit more looking around, I found them in various stages of growth.
This all in the area of the Big Spring.
By the end of next week, the spring should have a few dozen flowers opening.
I decided to head back and take the deer trail around the north facing hillside where I'd found the antler and then cut across the meadow towards home.
My weekend haul was one nice set of antler sheds. I found 3 skulls.
And what on earth do I do with these?
I clean them up.
I think rodents get our sheds...but then we have more does than bucks anyways:) Oh the red elf cup is so pretty! Yes you will have flowers soon!
ReplyDeleteGreat decorations on the skull. It will be many weeks or possibly months before the cowslips will be blooming here. It's always a treat to see those yellow flowers announce spring.
ReplyDeleteI keep my eyes open for sheds on our property, but have yet to find any. Does Charlie like to chew them? They cost a small fortune in pet stores. I would rather not find bones, yet those seem to appear randomly. I like how you tastefully decorated the skull. After all the years of hiking rural woods you must have a large collection. What do you do with them all after decorating/still shots, mount them on a wall/fence? Nice to find color among the browner tones of Spring.
ReplyDeleteSo I do paint some to keep inside for decoration and I have some blinged ones that I gave to my elderly mom years ago as a gift [she went nuts over it]. The large ones get painted and generally end up sometimes in my flower garden. Last year it was more a fairy--not fairy garden theme. Large cow skulls need a freshening up with spray paint almost every year. I have used cow skulls as planters for Hen and Chicks...
DeleteSome of the small ones I did a while ago:
https://mulewings.blogspot.com/2016/04/when-winds-blow.html
I have quite a nice collection and I thought I was really weird for doing it, until my veterinarian showed me his collection.
The really old ones go back out in the woods and the paint fades and they break down.
I have a plastic tote full of antler sheds. Charlie liked them a little and smelled the fresh one I brought home but then ignored it.
I'd like to design a lamp or a coffee table some day with my sheds.
Yes I am strange!
Val, you are not strange or weird. I think you have unique interests. I love learning about them!! I guess skulls are part of nature. Nothing wrong with a blank canvas being repurposed. They remind me of European (deer etc) Mounts. Skulls are such common decor out West. I read your associated link, interesting about your vet. Not sure how I would feel walking into a vet office and seeing a bunch of uncommon skulls tho. I bet they look super cool in your garden with hens & chicks growing in them!! Our dogs love antlers, but they don't get them often. You really have to watch for chipping. I just saw rib bones out of the corner of my eye driving on our back road, on either our prairie/neighbors dump property. Not sure if the skull was there too, probably. Let me know if you are interested more skulls. We don't have many, but I do come across them occasionally.
ReplyDeleteI've got plenty of skulls. I find two or three deer a year on my wanderings. I mess with them when I feel like painting something.
DeleteFancy painted deer skulls with antlers do bring a chunk of change, I can't believe it!
To me finding bones in the woods just reminds me of the natural cycle of life. I took a break from bones and skulls for a few years. I was bored this week with the snow so I got some of my old bones out and messed with them.
I don't have the talent that some of those who paint them do!
We have Rich's last big buck done as a European mount, they are very popular in this area.
My grand kids used to call Gramma Bones and others called me GrammaCamera.
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Cute names! My daughter said when referring to me the grands call me the "Grandma with the horses" (they have four grandmas, and several great grandmas) in person they just call me Grandma. I can't imagine finding a skull with antlers attached,m especially around here...
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