Sheep Sorrel

 

 

Sheep sorrel leaf, note the hastate/ arrow shape of the leaf.

    There's nothing as lovely as nibbling on a fresh sheep sorrel leaf (Rumex acetosella) in the spring sun. Its flavour is sour and refreshing, similar to rhubarb. They're related. Both are in the Polygonaceae family. Another relative, yellow dock (Rumex crispus) can also be found at this time of year. I love the leaves of sorrel or dock in a spring salad with some mustard greens (Sinapis spp.), dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinale) and oxeye daisy leaves (Leucanthemum vulgare).

    Soon spring will be here in earnest and everything will be green but for now we'll have to settle for the few greens that are ready for eating. Somehow they seem the more precious because they're the first to come and they have been missed. In today's society here in the Okanagan there are fresh produce to be bought in the stores all throughout the winter but this was not always the case. The fresh greens in early spring must have been such a welcome addition to the winter fare, not to mention the nutritional benefits that the spring greens would have brought. Sheep sorrel is high in vitamin A and C.

Sheep sorrel leaves, spring onions and eggs in time for Easter.

 

Description

Perennial. Likes open spaces such as meadows and pastures. Forms colonies with its long skinny roots. Grows to about 30cm tall when in flower. Leaves are arrow-shaped with two distinct lobes at the base (hastate). Leaves form a basal rosette. They are juicy, kind of glittery and dark green, turning a vibrant red in autumn. Plant is dioecious, meaning that plants are either male or female. Male flower has 6 sepals, no petals and 6 stamens. Female flower looks the same, but instead of stamens it has a frilly white pistil. Plant is wind pollinated. Both types of flowers initially have green sepals that turn red as the plant flowers and sets seed. Seed is a papery achene. It is brown-red and has three angles.

Left photo. Comparison of female( left) and male flower (right).

Right photo: Close up of male flower.

 

 Caution /Warning

Sheep sorrel contains oxalic acid and should not be consumed in excess as this can interfere with calcium uptake in the body. Cooking lessens the oxalic acid. Many common everyday foods contain oxalic acids and we are not scared of them, examples are: spinach, rhubarb, chocolate, tea, parsley. If you eat this plant in moderation you should have no problem at all. If I eat many foods that contain oxalic acid in a week I increase my consumption of dairy to counter any calcium loss. People with kidney problems however should consume less of the plant or avoid it altogether. Also avoid if you have diarrhea since it is a laxative.

When you cook with sheep sorrel it is better to avoid pots made out of aluminium, copper or iron as the acid in the sheep sorrel reacts with these metals. Rhubarb does the same thing, turning from beautifully pink to ugly brown.

 

Often sheep sorrel leaves will have red spots on them.

Sulphur Cinquefoil

 

Today I thought I'd share with you about an early abundant spring plant that can be used for food.

 Sulphur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) 

In our fields it is everywhere! Below is a quick guide to recognising it, as well as some uses.

Flower- note the heart-shaped petals in two tones of yellow

Sulphur Cinquefoil

Potentilla recta

Rosaceae

Synonyms:

Erect cinquefoil, Rough-Fruited Cinquefoil, Five Fingers

Description: Perennial herb that can grow up to 80cm tall. Likes to grow in open fields. 

Leaves are palmately divided into 5-7 deeply toothed and veined leaflets. The name cinquefoil, which means five leaf or five petal refers either to the five petaled flower or to the five leaflets that are arranged like fingers on a hand. Some people think that the leaves resemble marijuana leaves. Most sulphur cinquefoil have seven leaflets at maturity, but some have five. They are dark matte-green on top and pale below. The leaves form a basal rosette as well as forming an alternate pattern up the stalk. At each petiole there are two jagged stipules attached to the stalk. 

Stalk is woody and green/yellow. Both the leaves and stalk are covered in soft hairs.  

Flower is yellow in two tones, light yellow on petals and dark yellow towards the centre. It has five petals, each shaped like a heart. Flowers grow in flat topped clusters (cyme). Early in the morning the flowers are not yet opened; they open as the day progresses. 

Fruit is small and strawberry-looking and enclosed within a papery husk. This husk turns brown and dries in late summer. Inside are many small seeds that fall out once the husks dry up and open. The seeds are dark brown and wedged-shaped.  

Tap root is fibrous and woody.

 

 

Husk and seeds in August

Uses:

    This species is an introduced variety that can become quite widespread. The leaves, in early spring, or when they are immature, can be picked and added to any meal you cook. They are not suitable raw in a salad due to their texture and the fine hairs on the leaves. However, the dried leaves can be added to bread and muffins. They dry fast and are easy to crumble up. Their flavour is similar to strawberry leaves (Fragaria spp) or rose leaves (Rosa spp): Fresh, sour and drying. They are all part of the same family, Rosaceae.

    We also use the flower petals as garnish. They need to be added at the very last minute before serving because the petals are fragile and do not hold up to a lot of handling. They look like beautiful little yellow hearts. The fruit is small and covered in a papery husk. It tastes like an unripe strawberry. Once the husk dries up, the seeds from the fruit scatter freely and abundantly. If you pick the plant just before it has released all its seeds you can put it upside-down in a paper bag and gather the seeds for muffins or as sprinkling on your yoghurt. They taste a lot like strawberry seeds. The seeds are tiny, but there is usually a great abundance of them since the plant tends to grow in large patches. I find them worthwhile to gather.

   

    The leaves can also be used medicinally whenever an astringent is called for. The astringency in the plant helps to tighten the skin and heal wounds. I have used it with great success when I have bit the inside of my cheek and the puncture wound has become infected. I make an infusion or decoction of the fresh plant, stalk, leaves and flowers. I gargle with this liquid three times per day until I see an effect. After using it for only a day I can already see a marked improvement and the pain is almost all gone. A tea made from the leaves can also be drunk if you are suffering from diarrhea.

     

    Many people complain about sulphur cinquefoil due to its invasive tendencies and how it can make hay of inferior quality when it gets into the hay fields. We have found that the sulphur cinquefoil thrives in pastures with poor fertilizing and low irrigation. Here on the farm we run chickens in large movable tractors over parts of the fields and it seems as if the cinquefoil is kept in check where the chickens have been able to scratch and poop. Where they have not been, the land is much drier and has less grass and more cinquefoil. The hay from the pasture with the cinquefoil is popular with goat owners.

Look-alikes:

There are many different kinds of cinquefoil and they can be hard to tell apart. Below are just a few examples.

Graceful Cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis) is a native species. The flowers tend be one-toned rather than two-toned in colour. Leaves are more finely divided and are more likely to be in a basal rosette rather than on stem. This plant can be used in the same manner as sulphur cinquefoil.

Sticky cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa). As the name implies, it has sticky glands. Flower petals are rounded rather than heart shaped. Sepals are very prominent. Also edible. See picture below.

Tomentil/Erect Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) See caution below!

 

 Caution

Note that there are two species with the same common name and almost identical Latin names. Sulphur cinquefoil/ Erect cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) that we speak of here, (an introduced species from Eurasia) and Tomentil/ Erect cinquefoil (Potentilla erecta) that grows in Europe. Tomentil can not be eaten as food but has been used for medicine. Any amount over 1g can cause gastrointestinal problems and issues with absorption of minerals and iron in diet. I have not seen Tomentil here, but it may be around. An easy way to tell them apart is by the flower petals. Sulphur cinquefoil has five petals, Tomentil has four.

 

Sticky cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa)

 

Paper Birch

 

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) is one of those rock star plants that support humans with food, beverage, medicine, material and firewood, not to mention aesthetic decoration. It is often mistaken for trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) because they both have whitish bark with black markings on it. The paper birch has bark that flakes off which the aspen does not. The aspen tends to have more bluish/greyish bark and the birch is brightly white. They both have black markings around where branches attach. The aspen bark is coated in a powdery dust. The birch has some of that but nowhere near the amount that the aspen does. For more info on aspen and pictures, go to entry on trembling aspen.

https://foragingforestfables.blogspot.com/2021/01/trembling-aspen.html

Comparison between paper birch bark on left and trembling aspen on right
 

    Now in March we're just seeing the snow give way to muddy spring grounds. The sap has started to run. The sun is warm during the day and the nights are still freezing. Here at the farm we have had many birch fall prey to what I believe is the Bronze Birch Borer (Agrilus anxius). The name anxius means just that: anxious or troublesome. They attack trees that have been stressed by drought or unusually high temperatures, and as the borers eat their way through the tree the birch first develops stunted yellow growth and later complete die-back of upper limbs. A sign that it is the bronze birch borer that is the culprit are D-shaped holes in the bark- their exit holes. 

Bronze birch borer exit holes in bark

 

     Once the trees develop dead tops they do make me anxious, rotten limbs can fall off without warning. They call these trees "widow-makers" for this reason. We're trying to fell these trees safely before the sap rises too much. This way the wood (that can still be salvaged for firewood) will season faster. Birch makes the best fire wood. At this time we're also harvesting the outer bark to use for crafts such as basket making and decorations. The small bits of bark are put aside to use for fire starters. They are excellent, they make a bright hot flame that can set your kindling alight.

   Birch log fire and fire starter
 

    The inner bark, (the cambium), is another fantastic resource that this tree has. I shave off chunks of it and dry it slightly before roasting in oven. The last batch I roasted for 15 min at 350°F and then turned off the oven and left the bark in there for the night. The next morning they were nice and crumbly. This crumbly stuff I grind finely into a flour. The finer you grind it the easier it is to bake with. I add this flour to cookies and bread.

                                                    Close up inner bark/cambium (left), harvesting cambium (right)

                                                  Ground birch bark flour (left), birch bark cookies (right)

 

Chocolate chip/birch bark cookies

Ingredients

2 cups regular flour

1/4 cup birch bark flour

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup finely chopped dates

 Directions

Whip egg and sugar

Mix all dry ingredients, then slowly mix in with egg mixture.

Add dates and chocolate at end and gently fold into the mixture. 

Place dough balls on oven trays with parchment paper and bake for 10 min at 350°F. Let cool. Enjoy!

 

    Below are some pictures of paper birch throughout the year to use for identification.

 

Birch twig Feb (left), birch seeds in snow Jan (right)

 

Birch catkin February

 

Birch flowers in April

 

  

Young birch leaves in May

 

Mature birch leaf in May bottom and top

 

 Comparison: paper birch on left, trembling aspen on right (left photo)

Comparison: paper birch on left, beaked hazelnut on right (right photo)

 

Dead birch with Birch Polypore fungi (Fomitopsis betulina) in October 

There are a multitude other uses for birch and I will cover them in different blog entries. I'm so grateful to our birch trees for everything they give us. One concern with global warming and rising temperatures across the continent is that extending seasons of drought means that the paper birch will have a harder time to fight off pathogens such as the bronze birch borer and we might see further losses of this species. Just think about how connected everything is. A few degrees warmer and we stand to lose so much. This is such a serious issue and it needs addressing now. What can we do? There are many ways to take action: 

Contact government and local politicians and explain your concerns and demand that they have a plan to minimize carbon emissions and hold them to it. Use you vote, vote for the party that will do something about climate change.

Plant trees

Grow a garden and harvest your own vegetables. 

Avoid using plastic. 

Ride your bike or walk instead of using the car.

These are just some simple ideas. I'm sure you already have a handful of ideas that can help. It is never futile to try your best to keep the planet safe. 

Here is a quote by Edward Everett Hale that I chant to myself when I feel helpless about environmental damage and climate change.

 

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." 

-Edward Everett Hale

 

Humans are incredible, I really hope we can turn this around before it's too late.

Here is a song I find inspiring and sing with my kids: Glyn Lehmann, I am the Earth

To listen click on link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkn1B7cJYQo

Until next time, keep safe and always harvest sustainably.

 

Common Barberry

 

    This late in the season it can be hard to find any juicy berries to eat in the woods. There are some exceptions though. Common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) still have its ruby red berries hanging on after snow and frost. They're mushier than they were in September but they still taste great. They are easy to spot as they are the only colour remaining on the bush after all the leaves fell off. It is also easier to see the spiky thorns on the bush once the leaves drop. Picking the berries takes some careful maneuvering to avoid being mauled.

 

    At this time of year I don't harvest huge quantities of the berries but rather just eat them as a snack while being out. In September/October the berries are a great delight to harvest. I make jellies or jams with the fresh berries and dry the rest to use as tea or as flavouring when I cook rice. Adding a handful of the berries to a pot of rice while they're cooking soften the seeds inside them and make for an interesting rice dish with an occasional sour burst. Persian rice pilaf traditionally have dried barberries added to it. The berries have vitamin C, zinc and manganese in them.

 

leaves of common barberry in July

    Common Barberry is introduced to North America, it originates from Europe, northwest Africa and Western Asia. It can grow up to 4m tall and the leaves are oval shaped with a serrated edge. The yellow flowers are borne in long panicles. The branches are grey and formidable thorns alternate up the branches in bundles of three. The bush is a favourite habitat for songbirds as it offers protection for their nests. The berries hang in bundles, they are oblong and red with two seeds inside. It spreads by rhizome and can handle dry and rocky habitats.

    There is a native barberry, American Barberry (Berberis canadensis). The two are hard to tell apart. I have not seen one of these in the Okanagan. It has wrongfully been mistaken for common barberry and eradicated in many places. It is now considered vulnerable. The reason that common barberry was persecuted was that it can carry a wheat rust that alternates between the barberry bush and the wheat plant. This rust can cause wheat crop failure. The American barberry is smaller and second year branches are brown/red rather than grey. Its leaves are less serrated and it carries fewer flowers in each raceme. 

 Japanese Barberry

   Many people have another barberry as part of their landscaping: Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii). This is a small bush (around 1 m tall) with lovely purple teardrop-shaped leaves. Flowers are yellow. The leaves have a non-serrated edge and on the underside of the branches hang tiny ovoid bright red berries in clusters of three or more. The bush has single thorns alternating up the branch.

Below are some red berries that could possibly be mistaken for barberry. These all remain on the bush over winter and glisten red and juicy.

    This is a comparison between Common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) to the left and Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) to the right. These both grew next to one another and had berries remaining on shrub in February. To tell them apart: barberry is a shrub, bittersweet nightshade is a vine. Inside the barberry are two grey hard seeds (that look like grape seeds), inside bittersweet nightshade there are lots of small yellow soft seeds (that look like tomato seeds) Bittersweet nightshade is in the tomato family. Barberry is in the same family as Oregon grape (Berberidaceae). Barberry flowers are yellow, bittersweet nighshade flowers are purple. 

The berries of bittersweet nightshade are POISONOUS. Do not ingest. They can cause, headache, dizziness, trouble speaking, low body temperature, bleeding in stomach or intestines, trouble breathing, poor blood circulation, convulsions and possibly even death. They look very appetizing so be aware that small children might be tempted by them.

 

bittersweet nightshade flowers

 

    Another look-alike is Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum spp.) There are a few species. Some are edible, some are not recommended. We have European Highbush Cranberry/ Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) growing on the farm. Its berries are round and very juicy. It has one large, flattened, hard seed inside. The berry is technically edible in small quantities. It makes me nauseated if I eat more than 5 raw berries in one sitting. In large quantities the berries can cause vomiting and diarrhea. I sometimes make a jelly from them and use it with meat. Cooked it isn't nauseating, and I only consume a teaspoon max at a time. 

All pictures below are of European Highbush Cranberry/Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)

 

The berries (drupes) of Guelder Rose are round and hang in corymbs. They remain on the bush throughout winter.

    Leaves are three-lobed and the flowers are interesting in that they produce showy sterile flowers on the outside and smaller fertile flowers in the centre. The bush can reach 5 m and attracts birds and pollinators.

    I hope that this article was helpful in recognising some of the red berries you might encounter now in February. Stay safe in the woods and make sure you properly identify any plant before consuming. Take great care to harvest sustainably.  

Ponderosa Pine

   

    The sight of a majestic Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), with its graceful needles and distinctive bark makes my heart soar. I'm originally from Sweden and I had not met Ponderosa Pine until I moved to the Okanagan, BC. Its particular vanilla-like scent on a hot summer's day is now forever imprinted in my mind as the quintessential smell of the Okanagan. Not only is ponderosa pine beautiful, but it also has many other cool attributes. For instance, it can handle moderate fires. The bark is thick enough that it comes to little or no harm if a fire rages through. It also loses some of its lower branches as it ages and this protects the crown from ground fires. Historically, ponderosa pine tree communities tended to experience low intensity fires at regular intervals without coming to harm. Here on the farm, the ponderosa pine shares its habitat with western red cedar (Thuja plicata), which is a bit unusual. Usually ponderosa pines grow in areas with lower rainfall and often co-exist with another drought tolerant conifer, the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). 

 

Ponderosa pine has bundles of three long needles

     I like using the outer bark of the ponderosa pine to make crackers with. This recipe is inspired by a Sami recipe shared by Laila Spik. Laila Spik is a Sami elder from northern Sweden and she is an avid champion for Sami culture. Her recipe uses Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). I found the recipe in The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North by Beverley Gray. This is an excellent book on wild-crafting in northern North America. I modified the recipe to be used with ponderosa pine. The good thing about using the outer bark as opposed to the inner bark is that it's relatively harmless to the tree. Ponderosa pine has thick, almost puzzle-like outer bark. I break off a few of these "puzzle pieces" from a few trees until I have a container full. Make sure you don't harvest too much from any one tree. I break the pieces up by hand, as small as I can get them. I roast them in the oven for 35 min at 350 degrees Farhenheit. It smells wonderful. Once that is done I grind them to a fine flour with a coffee grinder, (a grain mill would work even better, I think). I then sift the flour to remove any hard bits. With those preparations done, it's time to combine the ingredients and get baking!

                                         Flour from outer bark before strained through sieve to remove hard bits

Ponderosa Pinebark Crackers/Knäckebröd

3/4 cups pine bark flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt 

1,5 cups cold water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all ingredients together. Roll out very thin. Prick with fork. Cut into cracker squares and place on greased oven tray. Bake 3 minutes (swap your trays halfway through- top to bottom, bottom to top). They will harden as they dry. The crackers have a very unique flavour. I adore it, but some people find it too aromatic. They taste great with creme cheese or hard cheese.

For a lovely beverage to go with your crackers, why not make ponerosa pine needle tea? This is a drink that is invigorating, refreshing and full of vitamin C. The needles also freshens your breath.

If you want to get really into the ponderosa pine theme you could even serve your crackers in a basket woven with ponderosa pine needles. The Secwepemc make beautiful baskets with coils of the needles and coloured string. I have never made a basket, but I have tried the technique to make Christmas tree ornaments. 

 

  Note the ponderosa pine cone in the background with its spiky scales

Thank you for all your gifts Ponderosa Pine!

Beaked Hazelnut

     

Twigs drying for future basket making, left to right: red-osier dogwood, ash-leaved maple and beaked hazel

    The last two weeks my focus has been on Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta). The kids and I have been harvesting various parts of the tree/bush for both material and food. We are planning to learn how to weave baskets this year so we have harvested some branches for that project. They are now drying to avoid shrinkage when we start to weave. When we start on that project I will document and share how it goes.

    We have also harvested fresh beaked hazelnut twigs to make our own play bow and arrows. Bows and arrows are great toys for developing patience, accuracy and strength. We chose twigs that were as straight as we could find them (diametre of an adults thumb, give or take). We whittled away the bark and steamed the wood to enable us to bend it without it snapping. Since we were doing it outside in the snow, the cold quickly cooled down the wood. I used a rag with boiling water added and wrapped it around the wood where I wanted it to bend. Once you have made a C shape you are happy with, the bowstring is fastened. A small groove on either side help the twine to remain in place. You want the bowstring to be under quite a bit of pressure without snapping the bow. I'm sure there are many technical and precise ways of constructing proper bows. For us, ease of construction by the kids, as well as the end product being a usable toy was the goal so we were less particular. We used hemp string for our bow string. 

    When we had our bows we went looking for hazel twigs (about the size of an adult pinkie) to make arrows with. Again we aimed to find the straightest twigs. We whittled away the bark and sharpened the point. The back end got a cut groove to be able to rest it into the bowstring. To decorate and add better aerodynamics, sturdy feathers at the back end of the arrow is great.  Now all that remains is practice, practice and practice and more practice.

 

    While we were out in the woods hanging out with the hazel we came upon a ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) balancing on the cascading branches. She was eating the hazel catkins and seemed undisturbed by us. The hazelnuts are long gone, they are quickly collected by the squirrels and mice and put into caches. The hazel catkins however are plentiful and they are a good source of protein. We were inspired by the grouse and harvested a cup's worth of the catkins and took them home to add to our homemade energy chocolate bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catkin bar

 

    Melt 2 cups dark chocolate in double boiler. When liquidy, take off heat and add 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Stir in chopped up hazel catkins, cereal of choice (we used organic oat o's) and seeds if you want (sunflower, chia and plantain seeds are nice). Mix together and spread out thickly on parchment paper on a tray. Cool down on tray in fridge. Once it has hardened, cut into bite sizes. The kids loved it!

Next time I think I will try to pan-roast the catkins and grind them up before putting them into the chocolate bar. I think that would make the flavour even nicer and avoid the dryness of the catkins. You can eat the catkins raw too. They taste good, but I have a slight allergy to them raw. For some reason I don't seem to react to hazelnuts or catkins when they are covered in chocolate. I know... that sounds a little made-up but I assure you it's true;)

Harvest of cedar leaves, ponderosa pine needles and beaked hazelnut catkins

 

Bobcat tracks

    Woke up to a delightful morning of fresh snow sprinkled like icing sugar over the fields and an exciting surprise outside the chicken coop. Some unusual footprints of a definite feline character. Our (slightly educated) guess is bobcat (Lynx rufus) The prints are about 2-3 times larger than the prints of our house cat, Miau-miau.

    The cat prints (wild or domestic) have one toe higher than the others. The print is slightly more rounded and more a-symmetrical compared to a dog print (canine). These prints are about 5 cm long and about 25-30 cm apart. The pattern on the prints are in a narrow trail, with back paws stepping in the prints from the fore paws at times. The back pad has a scalloped pattern with three lobes. Four toes can be seen but no claw marks. With coyote or dog prints you see the claw marks clearly. Most cats can retract their claws and do so while walking.

Compare the photos below to tell them apart.

Bobcat tracks  Note one front toe slightly higher and scalloped pattern on pad. Tracks often doubled by front and back paws.

 

Bobcat track top, house cat bottom

Coyote track (above). Note oval shape and signs of claws.

 

 

    While we're on the topic of bobcat I thought I'd share with you a photo of a skull that we found in the woods here on the property the other day. We believe that this skull is also from a bobcat.

    The kids and I followed the bobcat trails into the woods to see if we could deduce what it had been doing. It's like a really good mystery where you have to follow clues and keep an open mind. By piecing together the clues the plot thickens. Last night around 1am I heard a sound outside I'd never heard before. It sounded like a combination between a cat and a screech owl. It started with a meowing and ended with a high pitched call. Having seen the prints outside this morning and doing some further research on the bobcat's call I now believe that what I heard was its call. The plot thickens...

 

    The bobcat is a solitary animal that only gets together with other bobcats for mating, this usually happens in February. The female will give birth to 1-7 (usually 2-3) kittens in late April-early May. After only 2 months the kittens wean. Their diet are other small animals, although they can kill foxes and deer too if they need to. Like all cats they are carnivores. Often they hide larger prey in caches and comes back to consume it at intervals.

Their scat resembles a dog's but it's often haphazardly buried with scratch marks in the ground around it. They mark their territory using urine, scent glands and scratches on trees. They can climb well and are even known to swim if need be. 

 

    I love that the forest around here have such a variety of animals and that we can see bears, coyotes, bobcats, weasels, deer and squirrels, to name just a few. We had three glorious elk roaming in the woods a few years back, but I think someone shot them. I heard gun shots in the back of the forest and haven't seen elk here since.This saddens me. Biodiversity is healthy and the more variety we have, the better the forest feels. The better the forest feels, the better I feel. The better I feel, the more I can do to care for the forest and its inhabitants.