208 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TOSEMITE 



rotating the cone, strips the scales off in the order in which they are 

 attached to the core, from base to tip. But sometimes work is begun at 

 the tip of the cone and occasionally in the middle. 



Among the great number of cones lying on the ground there are many 

 which have been only partially dissected, and this is true also of the cones 

 comprising the caches. These may have been sampled and then put away 

 for future use, or perhaps an animal has been frightened and forced to 

 drop the cone before finishing it. 



At Porcupine Flat on July 1, 1915, a typical kitchen midden of a chick- 

 aree was found by the authors on top of a prostrate tree trunk (pi. 3Gb). 

 The material comprised remains of red fir cones, namely cone-cores, scales, 

 and seed wings. Several other logs in the vicinity were littered with similar 

 debris, with accumulations on the ground beside them. Evidently there 

 had been a fruiting fir tree near by from which the squirrel had gathered 

 a large stock of cones the previous autumn. From time to time during 

 the winter, as needed, the squirrel had retrieved the cones from their places 

 of concealment, and had repaired to these logs to shell out the seeds. In 

 early spring such logs, projecting above the snow, would also afford good 

 lookouts whence a squirrel while at work could watch for possible danger — 

 for the approach of a red fox, a pine marten, or a hawk. 



Practically all the cone-bearing trees within the range of the chickaree 

 are levied upon for food. AVe saw work upon the cones of the red and 

 white firs, the alpine hemlock, and the lodgepole, Jeffrey, and mountain 

 pines. The white-bark pine fruits only at long intervals, so it does not 

 play any very important part in supplying food for the chickaree. 



As might be expected, the faces of the squirrels, especially during the 

 autumn, get somewhat smeared with pitch, and from time to time indi- 

 viduals may be seen engaged in vigorously cleaning their faces with their 

 forepaws. But on the whole, the animals keep remarkably clean. If a 

 person tries to get at the seeds in a green cone he will soon come to have 

 respect for the skill of the squirrels in handling such material without 

 becoming hopelessly pitchy. 



It might be expected that such wholesale consumption of fir seeds by 

 the chickaree would be detrimental to the forest. But in those protected 

 areas of the Yosemite region where man has interfered slightly or not at 

 all with the natural balance and where tree squirrels have lived for untold 

 generations, the forest appears to be of maximum density and the young 

 growth coming along is sufficient to effect full replacement of natural loss 

 amoTig the mature trees. Despite the heavy inroads which the s(iuirrels 

 make, a certain percentage of cones alwaj's escapes their attention, ajul 

 remains on the trees; these cones mature and scatter their seed in usual 

 fashion. Indeed the cutting off of a considerable percentage of llie fruits 



