I'm sitting here typing away and I notice a squirrel in the tree outside the window. He's carrying something in his mouth, so I get out the binocs and take a peek. It's a green pine cone. The squirrel finds a nice nook in the tree, leans back, spreads his back legs in a "v" and proceeds to tear apart the pine cone. He strips off piece after piece, spitting them out as he goes. Not once does he stop to eat any part of it. "Okay," I'm thinking, not knowing much about pine cones, "maybe there's something good in the center. As the pine cone gets smaller and smaller, he gets more excited. "This has to be good," I thought. But, no. He whittles it down until it's just a toothpick, bites it in half, spits it out, and climbs back up the tree. Now, what could he possibly have gained from that????

Marian

He recently received an email from his Toronto relatives, telling him that this is EXACTLY what THEY do to annoy the resident homeowners. The point is simply to make as much of a mess as is possible below the tree. The international Pine-Cone Shredding Olympics are coming up in the fall and this is an essential part of their local, pre-game training. If they actually ingest any part of the pine cones, they are disqualified, because the cones contain a performance-enhancing substance which is prohibited in competition. This Olympic event is judged solely on speed, mess and number of pine cones destroyed within a given time frame.

Any more questions? :devil:

I have a question. Will this competition be televised? If so, could you please tell me the <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> date, time and what channel it will be on. I would love to watch! Probably their sponsor will be Planter's peanuts. sincerely, moose

Or the company that makes POST-ITS. Did you ever see those commercials for POST-ITS, with the squirrels??? <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> They are HILARIOUS!!!