Douglas squirrel
Tamiasciurus douglasii
Mammal
A small, loud Pacific-coast tree squirrel that cuts green conifer cones and stockpiles them in damp middens at the base of trees, where the cones stay closed and the seed keeps. The midden piles of stripped scales are one of the most obvious signs of its presence in a conifer wood.
Plants in the catalog
Seed plants · 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.
Range
Pacific coastal and montane conifer forest from southwestern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon into the Sierra Nevada of California.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii). Retrieved 2026, September 9, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/douglas-squirrel
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
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.