July 14: Pine cone feast

[neverspent]

The loblolly pines have formed their new cones. I wouldn't have noticed, because most of these trees are 60 feet tall or more, and their branches are so high off the ground, it's hard to even see the cones unless you're looking out of a third story window. But the evidence had fallen to the ground: green pine cone scales scattered about on the brick walk, and here and there a methodically chewed skeleton of a cone. Even though the cones are still green, tightly closed, and the seeds unripe, the squirrels just can't wait.


USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database (Wikimedia Commons)

It always makes me smile, to see on the ground the scraps of a squirrel's pine cone feast that happened high above.