In Nolalu, whitetail deer look forward to windy days. Out on the Slate Islands in Lake Superior, woodland caribou do the same thing.
The reason is the wind will topple dead trees such as this old balsam fir which is covered in beard lichens, a favorite food for both animals.
The Slate Islands can have the densest woodland caribou population in the world, but at other times goes through massive die-offs.
The reason is the wind, or rather, the lack of it.
Lake Superior is famous for its terrific November storms. Just remember the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Those storms usually knock down a lot of old trees on the Slates which are in the northeast corner of the world's largest lake.
The woodland caribou then munch the lichens on these fallen trees the rest of the winter.
Once in awhile, however, there is a calm November and the result is the caribou starve over the winter.
Whitetail deer here on the mainland are more adaptable to other food sources and so don't usually suffer the same fate. There are no deer on the Slates.
But in winters of deep snow, wind-toppled trees are also a convenient way for deer to get nutrition without expending a lot of energy travelling.
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