In early October of this year, I noticed a red squirrel working frantically to gather seeds from the cones of a large pine that towers over a little shed just beyond the cabin. All day long for several weeks, it would scamper up the trunk to the top-most branches and throw the cones down below. They would bounce off the tin roof of the shed and make a loud pinging noise as they hit. For a while I could not figure out where the pinging was coming from, until one morning when I walked by the tree and the cones began to fall onto the roof as I passed. The squirrel would occasionally run down to gather the seeds from inside the cones and scurry off to bury her stash in a variety of hollowed-out logs and holes in the ground. I would talk to her, every day in passing. She would chatter back as if warning me that winter was going to be here soon and it would be a long one.A mere two weeks after I noticed her frenetic bout of seed gathering, it snowed several inches. Two weeks after that it snowed again, but this time it was a blizzard with a very cold north wind dropping the October temperatures to several days and nights of freezing. This was unprecedented for this early in the season, and somewhat unexpected. Although this little squirrel had peeked my curiosity and made me think it was time to hustle up on the wood gathering in preparation for what might be a long, cold winter. I still did not expect it to turn so quickly. But she was right.As I record this, we have had a series of major storms with four feet of the white stuff now covering the ground. There is another major storm rolling in this afternoon and we are expecting an additional foot to fall by tomorrow night. And there is no sign of the little red squirrel. I can only imagine her curled up safe and warm inside her tree, surrounded by a large stash of nuts and seeds, ready to face a long and chilly winter. She must feel very satisfied with the fruits of her labor and possibly a bit smug in thinking “I told you so.”Read more in my show notes at: awomaninthewoods.com/show-notes-2My Question of the Week:My question for you this week is, well it’s not really a question, but more of a request for you to share a story. Tell me a story about a time when you had an experience or interaction with an animal in the wild. How did this experience make you feel? Did it scare you? Did it amaze you? Did this experience open your eyes in some way?You can email your stories to me at tracy@awomaninthewoods.com or you can record your response for free right through your computer or mobile device on Speakpipe. The URL for Speakpipe is speakpipe.com/awomaninthewoods. I have been receiving some wonderful answers to questions from past episodes and look forward to incorporating some of those in my upcoming episodes. 
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