Here is a picture of our cottage Red Squirrels’ pre-winter stash. Clearly our local squirrels are an OCD lot: note that the cones are not only symmetrically arranged, but the butt ends are all formed like rays around rocks or along the length of a fallen tree! Certainly I have never seen animals in the wild to be as organized as our local guys are. Must be the Catchacoma Lake water. In the late fall photo (taken last year), however, you can see that all the pine cones have been consumed and there is no evidence of the previous orderliness.

Peter Currier, Lake Catchacoma

Late fall Red Squirrel midden - Peter Currier

Late fall Red Squirrel midden – Peter Currier

Red Squirrel pre-winter stash - Catchacoma Lake - Oct. 2, 2016 Peter Currier

Red Squirrel pre-winter stash – Catchacoma Lake – Oct. 2, 2016 Peter Currier

Categories: Sightings

Drew Monkman

I am a retired teacher, naturalist and writer with a love for all aspects of the natural world, especially as they relate to seasonal change.