This green skull has no secrets for forester Frans

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Skull found in the Kampina nature reserve, which animal is it?
Dick van den Braak met a skull during one of his many walks. He is curious about what animal this skull has been. I think it’s a skull of a ray.

If it had been from a roebok, you might have immediately seen the two bars – see the attached photo – and they would not have been there, then he saw two protrudes on either side of the skull where the rods had been where the bars had been true once those rods had been. You can also see the ceremonies on the photo and so this animal has certainly been a vegetarian. Those molars have a strongly pleated chewing surface, with which a deer can well grind its food. In addition, you see a fairly large eye socket and the rest of the skull is also typically that of a deer.

Oranjerode Dead Tree
Peggy Berkers saw an Oranjerode tree during her walk in the pan. She wondered what this is. On the photo submitted by her you can very well see a predominantly orange color on the trunk of a dead tree. We are dealing here with an orange tree algae, which is often called Portuguese algae. This orange Boomalg is a wire algae from the genus Trentepholia. Wire algae are green algae that get their energy through photosynthesis. Orange tree algae therefore belong to the green algae, but due to the abundance of carotene (carrot coloring) in that orange tree algae you can see the alga as an orange appearance instead of a green appearance. About twenty years ago this southern species came to the north, participating in climate change. The Oranje Boomalg mainly stands up on upright dead trunks and lying dead wood. Yet this alga is also occasionally present on the tree bark at different living trees, but this alga is less noticeable. Feel such a tree when this orange tree algae is on it. It feels like a soft carpet over the trunk.

There was a turd on the feeding table, who was the owner?
Martina Osteried found a turd on her bird feeding table and she wondered which animal this turd could have been. It looks like it is a turd of an agile climber and so I am thinking of a stone marten. Stone martens are gray -brown animals with long plume tail, which are on the rise in Brabant and are therefore increasingly coming close to human environment. Yet paying attention, because stone martens look a bit like cats, especially in the night, but the big difference is that the stone martens have much shorter legs. That stands out immediately. In addition, the stone marten usually has a gray -brown coat, sometimes somewhat ashes in color, and a beautiful creamy to white bef that runs on the front legs. Just a reverse white shirt. Furthermore, the stone marten has beautiful dark eyes, short ears and small, some pointed snout. There is a lot on the menu of this beautiful predator: both vegetable and animal food, too many to mention. However, they have a preference for eggs from fowls, one -thought and pheasants. What many people don’t know is that they also like bread.

Has a beaver dressed this tree in the Baardwijkse Leave area?
During her walk in the Baardwijkse Liekel, Mieke de Bruin saw a brilliant tree and she wondered if that was the work of the beaver. On the photo you see a tree where there are very clear gnawing tracks on the underside of that tree. In our country that usually means the work of a beaver and that is here too. Beavers gnaws on trees to fell and use them at their fortresses. In addition, beavers gnaw on, especially the soft tree species, due to food eating and those are especially poplars and willows. They also gnaw on larger trees, such as the summer oak in the photo, because they use them to stop the flow of the water, so that the entrance to their castle always stays under water. In Brabant you see Bevers appear in more and more places, even in the center of my municipality of Oisterwijk. Figures indicate that over the past three years the total of beavers has increased by sixty percent. Most beavers occur in Brabant after Limburg. The Bever in Noord-Brabant in particular has gone fast for the last three years.

Strange appearance in a drinking bowl, what is it?
Jan and Jet Eltink saw something special in their garden in Nuland in the drinks bowl for birds and they wondered what that was. We have had a special period in which many people have also seen IJshaar IJsbaard, see photo above. But what Jan and Jet have seen is also something very special. I was talking about that with walking buddy Monique and she thought of an ice stable. This phenomenon of IJsstalagmiet is also called ice needle or self -reverse icical gel. But how does such a phenomenon arise? In the many articles I read afterwards, the drinking place for birds is often mentioned the most.

Water freezes in such a drinks’ bowl, but because it turns off ice, it needs more space. First of all, the water always freezes the surface first, because there it borders the cold air. Then the bottom slowly becomes thicker due to that ice growth. But the ice needs more space and then this ice pushes the water down. This is how the water does not have the bottom of such a drinking bowl and so the frozen water / ice is pressed into the bottom. But in such a closed drinking bowl that is not possible and yet that ice has to go! As a result, the water is pushed upstairs in the weakest place. There comes water in contact with the cold air again and it will freeze again. Then the ice growth can continue to go up as long as there is weak spot in the ice and the ice continues to grow in the shape of a needle. In the case of Jan and Jet even split into two needles. Very special. Do you want to know more about it, See this link Or listen to the Omroep Brabant Stuifmail Podcast number 123 of February 16.

Ice spikes explained / ice needle; Explanation – Veritasium
Publication: 28 May 2015

Why do peaks on ice cubes form? Without them the world would look very different. Nice explanation (English) how ice needles arise.