HARVEST TIME

This is harvest time on "The Mountain" for most of our woodland neighbors. The summer is fast drifting into fall and those of the wood folk who do not hibernate have already spent considerable time in laying up their food store for the winter months, while those that do hibernate have not been inactive in the least. They are equipping their system with the reserve food energy so necessary to carry them over the "melencholy days".

The rock slides along the roads and trails are characterized by numerous little "hay cocks" that have been piled up by the industrious Cony. These "hay cocks" include all sorts of herbacious vegetation and when properly dried will be stored in the Cony's burrow for winter use, as the Cony does not hibernate. The Marmot, neighbor of the Cony in the rock slides, is sleek and fat for he, in contrast to his neighbor, does hibernate. And the Chipmunks and Ground Squirrels -- they are equipped with many pouches on the side of the jaws in which they carry food to their burrows and it sometimes appears that an epidemic of mumps has infected these lively little fellows because of the large quantities of peanuts, mountain ash berries etc. that they carry in this manner. Both the Chipmunk and Ground Squirrel hibernate during most of the winter but they are laying away a food store just the same. The bear, of course, are very active -- they always are wherever food can be found -- but now they double their efforts in this respect. The hillsides are covered with delicious huckleberries that are just beginning to ripen and Bruin is now dividing his time between them and the garbage cans.

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