of a ^ousanb^ar (pine 



cone crop and bury it for winter. The seeds in 

 the uneaten cones germinate, and each year count- 

 less thousands of conifers grow from the seeds 

 planted by these squirrels. It may be that the 

 seed from which Old Pine burst had been planted 

 by an ancient ancestor of the protesting Douglas 

 who was in possession, or this seed may have been 

 in a cone which simply bounded or blew into a 

 hole, where the seed found sufficient mould and 

 moisture to give it a start in life. 



Two loggers swung their axes. At the first 

 blow a Douglas squirrel came out of a hole at 

 the base of a dead limb near the top of the tree 

 and made an aggressive claim of ownership, set- 

 ting up a vociferous protest against the cutting. 

 As his voice was unheeded, he came scolding 

 down the tree, jumped off one of the lower limbs, 

 and took refuge in a young pine that stood near 

 by. From time to time he came out on the top 

 of the limb nearest to us, and, with a wry face, 

 fierce whiskers, and violent gestures, directed a 

 torrent of abuse at the axemen who were deliv- 

 ering death-blows to Old Pine. 



35 



