A uniquely form of self-protection
This was the stickiest STILL photo I have every made. My hands are sticky, my car is sticky, my shoes are sticky, and my kitchen floor is sticky. And I was being extra careful! If you live near white pine trees, you know about these famously sticky female cones. You learn to never put patio furniture any near a white pine tree, not to sit under one in general. No one really know why the cones drip quite so much sap–but it most likely acts as a insecticide and deterrent for predators like squirrels and chipmunks. It takes two years for a female cone to mature and release the nuts inside. So, it appears, she has devised a most devilish self-protection. I know about sticky white pine sap, but I still chose to photograph it for the greater good of STILL. Priorities.
sap-covered Northern white pine cones (Pinus strobus)