Squirrels playing pachinko and invisible elephants

Sat. Sept 1, 2012
The quiet forest is often invaded by the sound of elephants crashing through the trees. When we go in search of these behemoths, they are nowhere in sight. Invisible. Instead, if you stand still and observe, you see pine cones (generic term, they are actually spruce cones) landing all around. The squirrels are high in the trees harvesting the cones. They do this by pulling a cone loose and dropping it. The cone strikes a branch, bounces randomly, strikes another branch etc. until it thumps into the detritus on the ground. The sounds are "conk" "thunk" "bonk" "crack" "thump."  Most of the nearby squirrels are thus engaged at the same time. That's why it sounds like elephants coming through. They all cease at about the same time and sit up in the trees chattering. I think they are saying, "Hey, I just dropped a bunch of cones on the ground and the rest of you better not try to pick any of them up!" On the ground they sometimes immediately attack the cones like a kid at the state fair in July with a corn cob on a stick. Or they grab a cone and run off to their secret hiding place.
This activity is repeated numerous times throughout the day.