The Douglas Squirrel, Tamiasciurus douglasii, or as more commmonly known, the Pine Squirrel

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The Pine Squirrel as it is commonly known is an abundant seed eater in Western conifer forests. When the cones are ripe on the in the Douglas Fir forests these squirrels will cut large numbers of them dropping them to the ground, and then later packing them off to a nearby stash for future consumption.

The squirrels make logs of interesting and distinctive noises often designed to shoo away intruders that may disturb their activities. Careful viewers here will notice that the pine squirrel in the photo is not in a Douglas Fir, but rather in a spruce tree. That is only because the tree happens to be in my front yard and on this occasion a couple pine squirrels were playing in the tree within easy camera range.

The second sequence of photos show a pine squirrel having dinner. As is typical of their eating habits, they get into the stash of cones they have stored and they pack them one at a time up on something. Their preferred eating location is close enough to the ground they don't have to go far to get another cone, but high enough to provide some safety and ability to look out. It may be a low limb or a log, but in this case it was an old pallet leaning against a tree. He eats the seeds and drops the 'wings'. As you can see from the pile of wings they are prodigious eaters.

- - Updated 11/29/2006
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- - Updated 04/03/2008