Chicken of the Woods by Emily M. Stone

I am once again sharing this great article written by Emily Stone over at Cable Natural History Museum. I know there are a lot of people out there into foraging as well as looking for mushrooms! Enjoy! By Emily M. Stone  Naturalist/Education Director  Cable Natural History Museum "Did you see that giant chicken!?" exclaimed my co-worker Jayme as she stepped out of her Jeep in my driveway. My puzzled look must have answered her question. "There's a huge chicken of the woods right next to your driveway! It's bright orange. I can't believe you missed it!" Jayme's excitement was warranted. Chicken of the woods (a.k.a sulphur shelf) are choice edible mushrooms, and she is an enthusiastic mychophagist (mushroom-eater) and wild forager. A little embarrassed that I had missed such a neat find, I joined her and Steve, her partner, on a quick hike back up our long gravel drive. "I won't tell you where it is," she teased, "let's see if you can find it yourself." Once I was looking, it wasn't hard, but I did discover why I hadn't seen it before. Tucked away up a steep bank, several yards back in a balsam thicket, the cluster glowed orange on the cut stump of a fallen tree. We grabbed baby birch stems and kicked our toes into the dirt, clambering up the near-vertical road cut. It was impressive. Nearly two feet across, with layer upon layer of rippling brackets giving it a ruffled appearance, the yellow edges and undersides contrasting with rich, orange caps - this mushroom was beautiful.  It is also unmistakable. David Arora, author of "Mushrooms Demystified", includes chicken of the woods in his "foolproof four." Upon closer inspection, we found that the cluster was fresh, clean, and flexible. Just ripe for eating. We reached into the mass, and gently tugged free a few of the most fresh and tender looking caps. The flesh was cool and moist to the touch, with a texture like fine velvet. Part of this consistency comes from it being a polypore. Unlike stereotypical mushrooms with the umbrella-like cap and radiating gills, polypore mushrooms are composed of many small, vertical tubes. Reproductive spores are produced on the sides of the tubes, and use gravity to disperse out of the bottom opening. From there, the spores use wind and animals to disperse them into a new home, eventually growing more mushrooms. The pore structure also contributes to the succulent, stringy texture of the caps, which reminds some people of chicken meat. Soon we had tugged free enough caps to share with everyone for dinner. Cooking mushrooms is extremely important for both safety and nutrition. Heat can denature toxins, kill nematodes, and break down tough cell walls to give our bodies access to nutrients. After wiping off a few specks of "trail spice," we added the orange caps to a warm skillet in a pool of melted butter and garlic. With a lid to help keep in the juices, the "chickens" were soon sizzling merrily. The first bite was the best: chewy but tender, with a light lemony undertone and a touch of the savory umami flavor, too. Though we wanted to keep eating, each of us tasted only a couple of small pieces. Chicken of the woods causes mild stomach upset in some, and allergic reactions in a very few. With any wild mushroom, it is best to try only a little at first, to gauge how your body will react. After a comfortable night, I headed back to the stump to collect more. The wood still looked solid, so I suspect that this fungus will be back again next year. Chicken of the woods is a parasite (it kills trees) and saprobe (it decomposes dead trees), most commonly on oaks. After years of decay, it renders the wood - especially the heartwood - into a friable mess of brown cubes. Until then, it may fruit in the same place year after year. And until then, I will continue making it part of my dinner. As I pulled off more chunks for my skillet, I noticed slugs and flies dotting the yellow undersides of the brackets. In just a few days, its brittle flesh would be riddled with insects, slug trails, and beetle holes. The fungus will die back. The decomposer will decompose. The tree feeds the fungus. The fungus feeds the animals. Eventually the soil will feed a tree. And somewhere in that cycle, is me.   For over 45 years, the Cable Natural History Museum has served to connect you to the Northwoods. Come visit us in Cable, WI! Our new exhibit: "Lake Alive!" opened May 1, 2015, and will remain open until March 2016. Find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org to learn more about our exhibits and programs. Discover us on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturalconnections.blogspot.com.      I would love to hear your comments, questions, and ideas about this article!     Contact Me!   emily@cablemuseum.org          The succulent flesh of the beautiful chicken of the woods mushroom tastes surprisingly similar to its clucking namesake.  Photo by Emily Stone.

Saw- Whet Owl....written by Emily M.Stone, Naturalist at the Cable Museum

Hey there readers! I know there are alot of you that are like me and find it amazing to see all the great animals, flora and fauna that we have in NW Wisconsin. This was a great email waiting in my email box today. I just had to share it as I have had the privilege to see one of these up alive and personal- they are soooo cute! Enjoy! By Emily M. Stone  Naturalist/Education Director  Cable Natural History Museum If you are interested in volunteering for the Annual Midwest Crane Count on Saturday, April 18, please email Deb atdeb@cablemuseum.org. We coordinate Ashland, Bayfield, and Sawyer Counties. "Wow. Look at the stars," said Drew as he stepped out of the car. With no moon, they glittered brilliantly in the inky black sky. I paused from unloading the car, and gazed heavenward with him. Breathtaking. I love living in the middle of nowhere. But after I closed the car door, and even the dome light went dark, a sound penetrated our consciousness, too. Hoo. Hoo. Hoo. Hoo. The repeated note sounded kind of like a back-up beep, or the car's warning ding that I left my lights on or the keys in the ignition. But all was dark, the keys were in my hand, and no engine noise accompanied the mystery. Suddenly my synapses zapped, the sound registered, and my eyes lit up in the darkness. "It's a saw-whet owl!" I grinned, excited at the prospect of a new avian neighbor. The last time I heard the incessant (and somewhat annoying) call of a saw-whet owl, I was in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California. From there to Wisconsin seems like quite a stretch, but saw-whets breed in mature forests with an open understory from southern Canada to the northern and western United States. While their habitat preferences are pretty well understood, the movements of saw-whets are not. Granted, it's hard to track small things that are well-camouflaged and only fly at night. We do know that they can cross the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water. One saw-whet owl even landed on a fishing boat 70 miles from shore in the Atlantic Ocean! Concentrated banding/recapture efforts have started to fill in the blanks. One study in southern Indiana found that saw-whet owls tend to move into a territory when prey numbers are high, and move somewhere else when prey numbers are low. Deer mice are their preferred prey, along with other small critters. The study also noted that during a year when the owl numbers were below average, it had also been the worst year for acorns in recent history. This is just one more example of how mast trees send ripples far out in the ecosystem. Mast trees save up their energy for three to five years before synchronously producing thousands of seeds (acorns in this case) all at once. Since mouse populations are known to fluctuate with acorn abundance, it follows that during a non-mast year, the mouse population would be low, and the owls would migrate somewhere else. It also makes sense that the mast of acorns we experienced last fall may have increased the local mouse population and attracted this cute little hooter to my backyard. (Remember our discussion of how passenger pigeons might once have eaten all the mast, leaving no acorns for the mice, and no mice for the deer ticks? And how acorn caps made the ski trails rough this winter?) A banding study from Maryland found that saw-whets increase and decrease on a two year cycle, with an irruption (a migration in response to irregular changes in food supplies) every four years. Based on that data, 2015 should be an irruption year for saw-whets!  In theory, it's a simple equation: more acorns = more mice = more owls. In nature, I know that nothing is quite that free of complications. No matter why he's here, I'm excited that the smallest owl in eastern North America is beeping in my woods. Without feathers, the saw-whet owl is the same size as a robin (another sign of spring that's singing in my woods). With feathers, he is an adorable, top-heavy oval of brown-and-white-streaked fluff with expressive yellow eyes. If he's lucky, a female will arrive soon; responding with her own series of whistles. To seal the deal, he must fly in circles, and then present her with a gift of food - the limp body a mouse. If they decide to breed here, the saw-whet couple will likely place their nest in an old woodpecker hole, excavated by the pileated woodpeckers or northern flickers that also frequent my woods. She won't do any interior decorating, but just starts her family on whatever debris is at the bottom of the cavity. If the mice are plentiful, she may lay up to eight eggs. Perhaps it's a little early to throw a baby shower for my new visitor, but I'm thrilled at this addition to the neighborhood, and wish him a well-fed and productive spring. For over 45 years, the Cable Natural History Museum has served to connect you to the Northwoods. Come visit us in Cable, WI! We are currently constructing our new exhibit: "Lake Alive!" which will open May 1, 2015. Find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org to learn more about our exhibits and programs. Discover us on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturalconnections.blogspot.com.    I would love to hear your comments, questions, and ideasabout this article!     Contact Me!   emily@cablemuseum.org          At eight inches long and 2.8 ounces on average, the tiny saw-whet is our smallest owl. The Cable Natural History Museum is lucky to have a specimen of this cute creature, and you can visit us to see it up close! Photo: CNHM collection.

Cable Natural History Museum  13470 County Highway M Cable, WI  54821 www.cablemuseum.org  Phone: (715) 798-3890     The Cable Natural History Museum connects people to Northwoods nature through educational experiences that inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility.

Spooner Advocate Column- April 18, 2013

Good morning- Hope this finds all of you out there enjoying nature- I guess you could be shoveling, snowmobiling, fishing or just trying to stay warm! LOL Wait a couple hours and I am sure the weather will change. Talk about a rollercoaster ride huh? I came home the other day with baby goats and heard baby geese, here the mom and dad had the 5 new hatchlings out in the snow! So far we have hatched out 7 baby geese, I am hoping more are on the way. Happy birthday to all those April birthdays out there! Hope you have a beautiful birthday. You are special, and we love you! Lac Courte Oreilles Sustainable Living Fair is APRIL 25th, 2013 from 10 am- 3pm. You have to come to the fair and enjoy all the fun things we have set-up for the community! We will have speakers addressing the mining issues, teaching about keeping backyard chickens. Make a rain barrel, starting seeds, build a rocket stove. Bring your unwanted electronics in to recycle for free(no big tv, or console tv). There really is too much to list here so all I can say is please show up on April 25th ready to meet some great people and to have a lot of fun! If you are interested in the rain barrel class please call and register with Amber as it is limited to 15 people. Amber can be reached at 715-634-4790 ext 156 or marlowa@lco.edu. I look forward to seeing you there! Deb would like everyone to know that Timbles has relocated to Spooner, sounds like she is happily sewing now that she is all settled in. We wish Deb much success! Thimbles Quilt Shop 237 Walnut St, Spooner, WI 54801, 715-635-6040 There are some great things that are going on through the Cable natural Museum. Any questions shpould be directed to the museum at 715-798-3890. Wildflower Hike to Morgan Falls and St. Peter's Dome, Saturday May 11th. Sounds like the museum's naturalist Emily Stone will be taking you on a hike to check out the spring plants. Leave the museum at 10 am, bring water and snacks and be prepared to walk 5 miles on uneven, uphill terrain. Birding in the National Forest, Thursday May 16th. Hike trails and visit sited within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in search of birds. You will be hiking through a northern hardwood forest, and skirt the edge of a bog and wetland. Meet at the museum at 6:30 am and return by 10:30 am. Space is limited so please call and register by May 15th. Cost is $8/member and $13/non-member. No charge if you are a registered Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival participant. Things to put on your calendar ... Shephard's Harvest, May 11-12, 2013 at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, MN. They are open Sat 9-5 pm and Sun 10-4 pm, admission is FREE! More information or to sign-up for classes held on May 10 please go to their website- www.shephardsharvestfestival.org . Minnesota Quilters 35th annual Quilt Show and Conference. This year it is in Duluth, Minn., on June 13-15. Classes begin June 12. You can get more information off their website, www.mnquilt.org/mq2013. Good luck to all those quilters who put their beautiful creations in quilt shows, I hope you win some ribbons! I know I am always inspired by each creation that I see when I go to the shows. We really have some talented people out there. Wisconsin Farm Tech Days July 9-11, 2013. Held at Breezy Hill Dairy, 147 16th Street, Dallas, WI. They will be open 9-5 pm daily, further information www.barronfarmtech.com . The 2013 Hayward Quilt Show is July 26-27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Flat Creek Inn in Hayward. If you have questions or donations please contact haywardpiecemakers@hotmail.com. I just wanted to ask all those in the area to let me know what is going on. There must be something going on at the churches, quilting groups, 4-H or something. I appreciate all of you reading the column weekly. How is that Spring list coming along? Have you started any plants? How about surprising someone with a Random Act of Kindness- Send a card to someone with a packet of your favorite seeds, drop off a jar of home-made jelly to someone who is home bound. There are so many options and you don't have to tell the person who you are. Just think how great you will feel after putting a smile on someone's face. Until next week.... think Spring!