CEICKABEE 209 



(cones with seeds) by the squirrels may even be of benefit to the trees. It 

 is analogous to the operations of an orchardist who thins out the fruit on 

 his trees in order to obtain a moderate number of full-sized, vigorous fruits 

 rather than many small or average ones. Examination of the ground 

 beneath pine trees patronized by chickarees shows, during the spring and 

 summer, considerable numbers of cones in which the seed has matured 

 naturally and has fallen before the cones themselves have dropped. It 

 would appear that the squirrels merely harvest a surplus. At Aspen 

 Vallej^, in the autumn of 1915, where tree squirrels were present in as 

 goodly numbers as in any place which we have studied, there were in 

 addition to mature trees many close stands of healthy young firs and pines. 



Like the California Gray Squirrel the present species is thought at 

 times to raid birds' nests, though the extent to which this is practiced is 

 not known with any degree of accuracy. At Merced Lake on August 23, 

 1915, a Wood Pewee was seen vigorously pursuing a chickaree. The pewee 

 was scolding furiously and the squirrel was retreating rapidly. At Chin- 

 quapin, on May 20, 1919, a robin was seen flying at a chickaree, snapping 

 her beak within a short distance of the latter. The squirrel was in full 

 retreat down a tree. Instances of this sort have been taken to mean that 

 the squirrels prey upon eggs or young; but much direct observation is 

 needed to prove the actual extent of the squirrel's operations in this regard. 



"We have, on one occasion, seen a chickaree eating the small pollen- 

 bearing (staminate) cones of a yellow pine. This was on May 18, 1919, 

 in the neighborhood of Nevada Falls. In late summer the tender 'needle- 

 buds' of coniferous trees are eaten. A squirrel in Lyell Caiion on July 24, 

 1915, had its stomach filled with chewed-up buds of the lodgepole pine. 



Red Squirrels are often attracted by meat bait placed about steel traps 

 for the larger animals, and a considerable number of these squirrels was 

 obtained in our efforts to trap coyotes, badgers, martens, and similar 

 carnivores. At Merced Lake a chickaree was taken in a trip baited with 

 fish entrails and set for mink. We also captured chickarees in unbaited 

 traps set in burrows of Aplodontia and out of sight from aboveground. 

 Some, at least, of the squirrels taken under the latter circumstances were 

 probably en route to drinking places. 



The autumn of 1915 witnessed great activity on the part of the chick- 

 arees in the Yosemite region. The animals were very busy harvesting their 

 food for winter use. Old-timers in the mountains remarked to us upon 

 this activity by the squirrels, saying that it was sign of a heavy winter 

 coming. There was a big crop of cones that fall; and the winter of 

 1915-1916 did prove to be marked by heavy snowfall. But that there is 

 any ability on the part of the native animals to predict the nature of the 

 whole season is exceedingly doubtful. 



