While waiting for the snow to melt, I made a round on the backyard fence to make sure it was still up and there were no holes in it for the skunks to sneak in. Magdelin, the 5-month pup, does not know what a skunk is yet and I do not need the mess. I know the fence around the pasture is broken but the cattle are not going to cross the creek that is filled with 6 feet of snow.
Looking for green growing things besides the pine trees is still out of reach. With a little bit of whining, I did notice some green on an old dying ash tree which is a home for woodpeckers. The green is lichens which I do not know what they even are.
So, I looked it up in one of my garden books. Lichens are a combination of two organisms living in harmony together. It is algae and a fungus. The fungus provides a home and protection for the algae. The algae (being green) provide food for the fungus from its photosynthesis. Lichen grows on stone, bark, some metal, and many other things.
Lichens provide food for some moths, and squirrels, and provide nesting materials for hummingbirds. With many species of lichens, they do not harm the trees. The trees give something for the lichens to grow on. Do not confuse lichens with other fungi that show a problem with a tree such as self-mushrooms