Oh, to Be So Diligent!
By John R. Rowley, Ranger Naturalist
By John R. Rowley, Ranger Naturalist
A golden-mantled ground squirrel that was found dead, apparently by
drowning, behind the Crater Lake Lodge may hold a record for diligence
in spite of his unfortunate end. This little fellow's pouches were found
to contain 736 seeds, each about two-thirds the size of a grain of
wheat, and one half-peanut. The peanut undoubtedly came the "easy way",
as a handout, but the source of the seeds remains unexplained, since
these seeds were the so called "canary seeds" which are packaged
commercially as part of bird seed mixtures.