As the recent February snow piled up and extremely cold air poured into Southeast Missouri, non-hibernating wild animals were hard pressed to find food.

Shown here is a native gray squirrel that found a walnut. I had braved the cold on this afternoon and so did the squirrel. I saw it drop the walnut from a dead snag tree with a hole in it. The squirrel was cold enough and hungry enough it ignored me and climbed down for the nut.

Cold winter days are difficult for wildlife of all kinds. Snow-covered ground makes finding food a challenge. Enterprising squirrels survive by storing nuts inside holes in trees during autumn. The cute squirrel pictured here had a nice meal on a very cold day.