The legend of the Douglas Fir cone

Posted on 19 Dec, 2008 29 comments

Ancient Native Canadian legend……Long, long ago when the land was young there stood a very tall and proud Douglas fir tree. The fir tree was so tall that its topmost branches touched the clouds. The branches spread widely and offered protection to small plants and animals below. The fir tree held many cones on the ends of its branches which stood open and contained many seeds.

Long, long ago there was a long and cold winter where the snow was deep and the wind blew across the land. The Douglas fir stood tall and proud through the days of bitter cold. A little mouse lived in the protection of the tree’s spreading branches. The little mouse was protected from the bitter winds and the snow fell only softly beneath the tree. But the little mouse could find no food in those cold dark days. The Douglas fir took pity on the mouse and said “climb up to the ends of my braches little mouse and you will find my cones. Inside the cones are many seeds which will keep hunger from you”.

The little mouse climbed onto the tree’s branches and found just as the tree had said. The little mouse feasted well on the Douglas fir seeds. He grew fat and healthy on the generosity of the fir tree. The other little mice looked at him and asked, “Why are you so fat and healthy while the rest of us are thin and cold”? The little mouse dared not tell the other mice where he was finding the lovely seeds. He was afraid that the other mice would come and eat all that the Douglas fir had to offer.

He waited until the other mice were sleeping before he snuck away to climb and eat. But not all were asleep and one mouse saw where the little mouse had gone. He watched the little mouse eating seeds from the Douglas fir and he woke all the other mice. He told them what he had seen. All the others mice ran for the fir tree and climbed up to the cones. They climbed inside the open cones to get to the plentiful seed. This invasion angered the Douglas fir. The fir snapped shut all its cones, trapping the little mice inside.

To this day when you look at a Douglas fir cone you can see the little back legs and tails of the mice sticking out of the cones where they are trapped.

This image is a work of a United States Department of Agriculture employee, taken or made during the course of the person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain

Comments

Majeekahead

great blog gilli, really enjoyed reading this, thank you.

19 Dec, 2008

Blodyn

That's a lovely story Gilli. I enjoyed it :o)

19 Dec, 2008

Terratoonie

Well done, Gilli.
Wonderful story. Well-written.
Thanks for this one. :o)

19 Dec, 2008

Funkyfuchsia

A great Yarn Gilli, Ilke it,

19 Dec, 2008

Marguerite

Lovely legend. Beautiful photo. Thank you Gilli.

19 Dec, 2008

Irish

brilliant blog Gilli

19 Dec, 2008

Treesandthi..

Cool story.

19 Dec, 2008

Spritzhenry

I loved it, Gilli! Thank you for posting it!

19 Dec, 2008

Arlene

~thanks for posting.Gilli!~

19 Dec, 2008

Gee19

Lovely story and lovely picture to illustrate it. But I can't help feeling sorry for the hungry mice!

19 Dec, 2008

Amy

A lovely story Gilli .. I really enjoyed that , lovely photo as well ..... :0)

19 Dec, 2008

Clarice

What a great blog really enjoyed reading the story.

19 Dec, 2008

David

Brilliant, Gilli !What a great story (lovely pic, too), Many, many thanks for this.

19 Dec, 2008

Bonkersbon

What a fantastic and magical story.Thanks for sharing.....

19 Dec, 2008

Gilli

I'm glad you all enjoyed the story. I originally heard this legend when we first arrived in Canada in 1970. It must have made an impression as I've remembered it ever since. :o)

20 Dec, 2008

Lincslass

Good one,grandson likes that, wants to find a cone like that for his nature table.

20 Dec, 2008

Dawnsaunt

Wonderful Gilli, thanks for sharing with us. x

24 Dec, 2008

Catfinch

LOL...love this Gilli...when I was a youg girl I went with my Aunt and Grandmother to harvest fir cones....The squirrels hollered like we were going to take them all...we harvested them to sell to the dept of agriculture so they could plant more trees...sorry little squirrels didn't which side their bread was buttered on did they? LOL

15 Jan, 2009

Sid

Only just found this - I had noticed the little 'tails' on the cones before and now I will always think of the little mouse :-)

20 Jan, 2009

David

Thought of you the other day, when I found my first Douglas Fir cones, with those poor wee tails sticking out!

:-))

30 Sep, 2009

Gilli

LOL David. The legend stays with you doesn't it?

1 Oct, 2009

Amblealice

What a story.....those poor little meece......Thanks to whoever nonimated this for GoYpedia.....

13 Dec, 2009

David

It sure does, Gilli, and this blog is one of my top faves! (wink, wink, Alice). :-)

13 Dec, 2009

Gilli

LOL....Glad you liked it AA and David.

14 Dec, 2009

Amblealice

Wink, wink, David.....ta pet :))

14 Dec, 2009

David

You're welcome, Alice, thought this would "fit the bill". Gilli, someone a while back was trying to contact you with a view to having this blog published in a magazine. Did this ever happen?

15 Dec, 2009

Gilli

Yes they did PM me and I PM'd back saying to go ahead.....but I never heard anything else about it. I don't know if they used the story or not.

17 Dec, 2009

Bevo

I am from Douglas Fir country on the west coast of Canada. I first heard this legend from a Shuswap first nations elder visiting the school at which I was teaching. I wanted to tell the tale (ha ha - tail) to students at my school for earth day . . . and I had to go all the way to the uk to find the tale again!! Thanks for posting it!

12 Apr, 2010

Gilli

LOL Bevo....That is where I first heard the tale when we first moved to Canada. A first nations elder visited our school in North Vancouver. I think we'd only been in Canada a month or two and I was fascinated by the legends he told. This one has stayed with me for 40 years.

12 Apr, 2010

Add a comment

Blog post by gilli.

18 people like this blog