Ardilla de Douglas
Tamiasciurus douglasii
Mamífero
Pequeña y ruidosa ardilla arborícola de la costa del Pacífico que corta conos verdes de coníferas y los almacena en despensas húmedas al pie de los árboles, donde los conos permanecen cerrados y la semilla se conserva. Los montones de escamas roídas son una de las señales más evidentes de su presencia en un bosque de coníferas.
Plantas en el catálogo
Plantas con semillas · 5
Cuts green cones and stockpiles them in damp ground middens, where the closed cones keep the seed; the stripped-scale piles are an obvious field sign.
The resident tree squirrel of the coastal grand fir forest, and its behaviour is shaped by the way fir cones fall apart. It cuts the cones GREEN and drops them, then stockpiles them in damp middens where they stay closed and the seed keeps; waiting for ripeness would mean waiting until the cone had already shed itself. The heaps of stripped scales at the base of a big fir are its work.
Douglas squirrels cut green cones and pile them in middens, and lodgepole is a staple across its Pacific and interior range. Those middens are a substantial seed store and a food source for other species in turn.
The same role on the Pacific side of the range, in the Cascades and coastal mountains where the Douglas squirrel replaces the red squirrel. The silvical and encyclopedic accounts of subalpine fir name pine squirrels among the principal seed consumers; which of the two species is doing it is simply a matter of which side of the divide the stand is on.
Cuts green cones and stockpiles them in damp ground middens, where the closed cones keep the seed; the stripped-scale piles are an obvious field sign.
Distribución
Bosques de coníferas costeros y de montaña del Pacífico, desde el suroeste de Columbia Británica por Washington y Oregón hasta Sierra Nevada, en California.
Fuentes y citas
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Usa esta cita para el registro de fauna de Plotwright. Usa las tarjetas de fuentes de abajo para explorar las referencias que informaron su taxonomía, distribución, conservación, plantas hospederas, forraje y hábitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Ardilla de Douglas (Tamiasciurus douglasii). Retrieved 2026, September 9, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/douglas-squirrel
Fuentes utilizadas para este registro
Este registro se elaboró a partir de las fuentes de abajo.
Animal Diversity Web: Tamiasciurus douglasii
Species account for conifer-cone harvesting, midden caching, habitat, and Pacific-coast distribution.
GBIF: Tamiasciurus douglasii
GBIF backbone key 2437281 is an exact accepted match for Tamiasciurus douglasii in family Sciuridae.
iNaturalist: Tamiasciurus douglasii
iNaturalist taxon 46259 is the active species record with community observation range data.
Wikipedia: Douglas squirrel
Corroborating reference for midden behaviour and the conifer species it depends on.