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Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) usually occupy mixed deciduous and coniferous forest interiors with scattered clearings. They also live along forested streams and in areas growing back from burning or logging. They are hard to see, but its drumming display is a fixture of many spring forests. Displaying males make a deep, airy drumming sound by beating their wings while standing on a log, like the one where the cache is hidden. The male Ruffed Grouse’s signature drumming display doesn’t involve drumming on anything but air. As the bird quickly rotates its wings forward and backward, air rushes in beneath the wings creating a miniature vacuum that generates a deep, thumping sound wave that carries up to a quarter of a mile. They have a triangular crest, and are intricately patterned with dark bars and spots on either a reddish-brown or grayish background. Dark bars down the side of the neck continue and widen on the belly. The tail is finely barred, with one wide, black band near the tip.. Displaying males expose a rich black ruff of neck feathers, giving them their name.
The cache contains a log book and swag. You will have to bring your own scribing tool to sign the log. The cache is on a seasonal road not plowed during the winter. There is a nearby deer blind, so please re-hide well. Don't forget to get the letter and number from the log and inside of the lid for the Bald Eagle puzzle cache.