Who has been at the cone?
Photo: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
Spruce cone worked by squirrel
Nothing much goes to waste in nature. We wrote about the squirrel’s winter doings already in the Christmas month:
Photos Kaido Einama
Spruce cone dropped from the spruce by great spotted woodpecker
Woodpeckers turn back the protecting scales of a spruce cone to get at the seeds more easily. We looked at the doings of the great woodpecker at New Year:
Who produces such a stump from the cone?
Bank vole Leethiir Clethrionomys glareolus
Bank voles go about their business very covertly, and are forest mice with a secretive nature; they will not push into buildings. These cones dropped or lost under the tree by woodpeckers are very likely processed by voles. Bank voles are skilled climbers but fetching down a cone goes beyond the strength of a little mouse. It must rely on squirrels or woodpeckers that can’t get at all seeds in the cone, the leftovers are for the mice. On the floor of a spruce forest sometimes also yellow-necked mice go sneaking for dropped cones.
Yellow-necked mouse Kaelushiir Apodemus flavicollis
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