Dear Alice,
I’ve got a question that comes to me only while riding chair lifts at Japanese ski resorts, not the most opportune time or place to send an e-mail. But yesterday, while cleaning last year’s debris out of my ski jacket, I discovered a trail map with a scribbled reminder to ask you this: What the heck are those nest-like balls you see up in trees in winter? I’ve spotted them along ski slopes in Nagano, Akita and Iwate Prefectures. At first I thought they were nests of leaves made by squirrels or some other small animals, but they don’t seem dense enough to provide shelter.
Lars C., Saitama
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