Japanese Squirrel Digs Out a Cached Food in Late Autumn

A Japanese squirrel (Sciurus lis, family Sciuridae) was caught on trailcam standing still on a seasoned fallen-tree in the mountain forest. Contrary to my expectations, the cautious squirrel didn’t visit the suspicious feeder box containing sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus, family Asteraceae). Instead, the squirrel jumped down to the ground and began to dig out a cached food, which was likely to be a Japanese walnut (Juglans mandshurica var. sachalinensis, family Juglandaceae) because there was a giant old tree of Japanese walnut standing nearby. To my chagrin, the squirrel moved into a blind spot of the trail camera, carrying the cached food. Maybe the squirrel chiseled open the hard shell and fed on the kernel of the dugout walnut. Or maybe the squirrel had to relocate it frequently for fear of thieves. Captured with my old trailcam in the morning (around 7:50 AM) of early-November 2024 in Japan. For a full story (text in Japanese); https://sigma-nature-vlog.blogspot.com/2026/01/blog-post_290.html