You know what sucks when trying to use tree rings as thermometers? When the ring width is actually affected by wolf populations, or reindeer crap, or precipitation, or a few hundred other things that aren't temperature

2005: Wolves, Ticks, Send Michigan Moose Numbers Plummeting

A correlation between an abundant wolf population and vigorous forest growth is one pattern to emerge in the decades of data, according to Vucetich. Trees are the primary food sources for the moose, so when the moose population is high, tree growth is stunted. Conversely, when the moose numbers are low, the trees grow better.
...
Indeed, Vucetich said, this year's tree growth is noticeably greater than in recent years. Of course, he added, one good year for the moose and they can wipe out many years of tree growth.

"You can actually see the ebb and flow of the wolf population by counting tree rings and measuring the ring width," Peterson said in an interview with the radio program Pulse of the Planet.

Climategate 2 FOIA 2011 Searchable Database | 113691872

[Tom Wigley to Keith Briffa, 2006] There are some problems still. I note that 1032 is not cold in Yamal.
Seems odd. Is it cold in *all* of the three chronologies at issue?
Or did a reindeer crap next to one of the trees?