Ancestral Gnaw Stick

[Midden-marauder]

This one my girlfriend found today up in the woods. The area she found this in was very close to the location we found our southwestern red squirrel, very close indeed. Her family and kin definitely occupy that area and this object, fashioned by one or more of her kin, proves that not all old artifacts are man made. It's quaking Aspen, a tree reasonably rich in salicylic acid particularly in the bark, the same essential compound as aspirin. Many animals strip the bark of Aspen for tummy aches or other pains. This remarkable bit of Aspen is COVERED in tiny gnaw marks consistent with the tiny teeth of red squirrels. It's a gnaw stick, one that was used again and again until nearly all the bark was carefully whittled off of it by little red squirrels, our red squirrels immediate family and ancestors. This is literally our squirrels ancestral gnaw stick and the minute we brought it home she loved it and started chewing away.....
Yep, that's her poking her head out there checking out her old family heirloom

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Nice....

 

[Midden-marauder]

Nice....

As, uh, artifacts go this is a very strange one but see now even our squirrel is in on the act lol.
Really this would qualify as an ecofact by any scientific standard, it's not man made despite being of partly artificial origin. Squirrel middens are as interesting as human middens but for completely different reasons. You can find metal and man made objects in those middens though, they like shiny metal and iron to lick to strengthen their iron teeth. This is what we do in the summer

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I walked creeks, streams, fields and river sand bars for over 20 years in Missouri searching for points, but found many natural "treasures", made by mother nature, lot of deer antler sheds, unfortunately I had to leave them behind on move. As it was moving company moved probably 800+ lbs of "rocks" I did move. I have a single piece of petrified log found in Missouri that weighs 300+lbs.it was a company paid transfer, they paid moving costs

 

[Midden-marauder]

I walked creeks, streams, fields and river sand bars for over 20 years in Missouri searching for points, but found many natural "treasures", made by mother nature, lot of deer antler sheds, unfortunately I had to leave them behind on move. As it was moving company moved probably 800+ lbs of "rocks" I did move. I have a single piece of petrified log found in Missouri that weighs 300+lbs.it was a company paid transfer, they paid moving costs

What we need to do is find a shed rack, squirrels gnaw antlers for mineral content. We supplement her diet with calcium powder but if we had a section of antler to mount to her enclosure she'd certainly love it and use it. We go out of our way to ensure she gets various food stuffs and resources from the very place she came from. Every August we harvest a ton of pinecones for her and other edible plants. We want her to have as much exposure to her native environment as we can manage