A few weeks ago I tossed a couple of oranges into the woods by our driveway. I had stored them just outside the doorway in the garage where they are handy from the kitchen. I think it was one weekend in the fall when I was expecting company and didn't have adequate room to store everything in the refrigerator. When I discovered them around Christmas time, they were frozen solid. I considered for a moment what I might still use them for, but because I was busy and had plenty of fresh ones properly stored in the house, I tossed them into the woods with the thought it would be a nice surprise for some bird to find them next spring. I watched as each one plopped softly into the snow just beyond the driveway, sinking out of sight in a foot or more of soft snow.

At lunch time today I noticed a squirrel struggling with something in the driveway. Almost immediately I knew what it was. He worked carefully, keeping the orange from rolling down the drive, gnawing to get a grip on it and then tugging it backwards, a few inches at a time. Halfway across the blacktop, he stopped and tore away some of the peel and gnawed at the fruit, apparently enjoying the frozen orange. After a few minutes, he grasped it again with his teeth and managed to drag it the rest of the way across the driveway. For a moment he seemed to contemplate the next step. He dashed onto the snow bank and up our birch trees. I thought his intent must be either to somehow get his prize into the tree like I'd seen him store apples in the lilac, or else he was looking for an easy route to his den which I think is in a disconnected drain pipe under the crab tree. Perhaps he realized the folly of either idea, or maybe the apples in the crab tree suddenly looked a lot more manageable, because he abandoned the orange and bounded into the crab tree - familiar territory with more familiar fruit.

I went outside a few minutes ago with the intentions of tossing the orange closer to the squirrel's den, but I didn't anticipate how hard the crust is, and it rolled quite some distance away. If the snow doesn't come too soon and cover it up, he'll maybe still be able to collect it. It was nearly half eaten, and that made me wonder - I've heard about cows getting tipsy from eating frozen apples in the fall, so maybe our resident squirrel is in his den this afternoon sleeping it off . . .