In spite of the fact that conies are usually very timid and seclusive animals, this season they are becoming somewhat accustomed to the nearness of visitors at Crater Lake. They may be seen busily engaged in carrying and storing their winter supply of forage at the foot of the new trail during the quieter moments between launch trips, giving observing passers-by a rare opportunity to study them. These exceedingly interesting little animals do not hibernate in the winter as do ground squirrels and marmots. Owing to the fact that their homes are deeply burried with snow seven or eight months of the year, they are busy during the short summer season laying up prodigious stores of grasses and other vegetation to be used as hay during the long winter. Among themselves they are very sociable, communicating with each other along the rocky pathways beneath the snow in the winter-time.