Charles Seabrook: A walk in the woods becomes a mini-safari

It would have been a routine walk in the woods last weekend except that my friend Jerry Hightower was leading the way. With his encyclopedic knowledge of the flora and fauna and human history of North Georgia, Jerry can make an ordinary stroll in the forest an informative, stimulating mini-safari.

That’s a big reason why more than 30 of us followed him along the hilly trail in the John Ripley Forbes Big Trees Forest Preserve just off Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. It was a glorious November morning with a bright blue sky, cool temperatures and hardwoods still sporting their vibrant leaf colors of fall.

Jerry, a ranger/naturalist with the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, noted that the huge white oaks that were towering over us were 100 to 200 years old and the reason for the 30-acre preserve’s name. As we walked, it was easy to imagine being in a secluded, unbroken forest instead of in the midst of a bustling urban area with a super-busy highway nearby.

Along the way, Jerry gave us lessons in forest ecology. We stopped, for instance, at a large hickory tree along the trail. By thumping the trunk, Jerry determined that it was hollow. A triangular opening at the bottom was another sign of its hollowness.

Scratch marks and other signs also indicated that the hole was used perhaps as a den by a rodent, probably a chipmunk or a white-footed mouse. A sure sign of rodent activity, however, were the rodent droppings that Jerry gingerly pointed out to us. “The scientific term for this stuff is a four-letter word that begins with 's' and ends with ‘t,’ ” Jerry said. “Now, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not that; the term is ‘scat.’ ”

Next stop was at another huge tree trunk. This one, though, was lying dead on the forest floor. Nevertheless, Jerry noted, dead and decaying trees are vital to the forest. A rotting log returns crucial nutrients to the soil, thereby enriching it. In addition, at some point in their life cycles, more than 60 percent of forest creatures use a dead tree for nourishment, shelter, egg-laying or other purposes.

Woodpeckers, flying squirrels and other cavity nesters make their homes in standing dead trees. When the snags topple to the ground, insects (including a variety of beetles), worms, snakes, lizards, toads, salamanders and other creatures move in. Pileated woodpeckers and black bears forage for insects in the decaying wood. Raccoons, bobcats, foxes and other mammals make their dens in fallen hollow logs.