X-country skiing in the EcoPreserve this past weekend, I came across scores of holes dug by gray squirrels down through the snow-cover to the leaf litter to recover acorns and nuts buried this past autumn.

I  also came across this little evidence of squirrelly frustration. Seems that a gray squirrel had buried a hickory nut in anticipation of digging it up for a mid-winter snack. Unfortunately, the nut froze solid into the ground and the squirrel tried in vain to dig it out, eventually giving up (or maybe to try another day).