While walking on the Tahoe Rim Trail late one evening last week, I spied a Chickaree, or Douglas’ Squirrel on a rock up ahead of me.  It was busily husking seeds from a pine cone and took off before I could get much of a photo of it.  John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, and noted Sierra Nevada conservationist, thought this particular animal was one of the “most enchanting” and interesting to watch.

Although I didn’t get a chance to observe those enchanting behaviors, I got a good enough look to realize how similar this western Sierra version is to its cousin, the Red Squirrel, we see in the eastern US.

(I took this photo of a Red Squirrel in my backyard last December.)

Both species are about half the size of the common gray squirrel, but twice as feisty.  In fact, they are so aggressive, they chase the larger squirrels away from their favorite feeding sites.

Both species favor the cones (and seeds) of pine and spruce, and prefer to husk the cones when they are still green.  Both have that distinctive white eye ring, and both curl their tails over their back while sitting (probably keeps them warmer).  Since both species lack cheek pouches in which to store seeds, they bury the entire cone instead and harvest the seeds as they need them.

Like the other tree squirrels (Gray and Fox), these squirrels do not hibernate in the winter, but sleep the winter away in a cozy tree hole.  The stockpile of seeds usually lasts them well into the spring.

Here’s another look at the video of Red Squirrels harvesting pine seeds that I posted last December.