The Douglas squirrel has a new trick – he chews off the ends of a bunch of the vine maple branches so that the small branch ends with the maple seeds fall to the ground. Then he goes to ground and sets off stashing the seeds in his cache . This makes for a carpet of green maple leaves on the ground, over plants that aren’t ready for being covered by fallen leaves yet.
The Douglas (northwest native) squirrel can’t hold much in his cheek pouch, so they make lots of trips back and forth. They are small like chipmunks and feisty, and fun to watch. They are vocal and will sound a loud chirping warning if they feel threatened. They have been known to scold us from the tree trunk while we’re in the hammock. On occasion, we’ve been in the hammock and had a squirrel start to toss down pine cone debris on us as he’s eating (or maybe he’s doing it on purpose?!). They are also known to eat honeysuckle berries (see below).
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