The Legend of the Douglas Fir Cone

A long time ago, when I was called Snowy Owl, a leader of Brownies, I heard, for the first time, 

The Legend of the Douglas Fir Cone.

 

It turns out that there are many versions of the legend, but no matter how the legend begins, in the end, the mice are hiding, head first, in the cones.  Their tell-tale feet and tails are always visible so that we can, without fail, identify the Douglas Fir cone.

 

 

Here is one version of the legend:

 

A West Coast legend tells of a time long ago when the Great Spirit was resting against a very large Douglas-fir tree. Many little mice began bothering him. They ran all over his body and through his hair. The Great Spirit asked the mice to go away and leave him alone but they kept climbing all over him. The Great Spirit became angry and gave the mice one last chance to go away or else! The mice were very frightened and scurried away. The Great Spirit looked around to see where they had gone. He looked up into the Douglas-fir tree and there they were, hiding in the cones.  To this day you can still see the two hind feet and tail of the mice sticking out of the Douglas-fir cones.  (Canadian Women In Timber)

And, another:

A long time ago, when the animals and plants could speak to each other, there was a great forest fire burning through the forest. Little Mouse ran as fast as he could away from the hot fire but he knew he could not outrace the fast moving flames. He began to run from tree to tree asking them if they could save him.  First he ran to the bigleaf maple tree. “Help, help!” he cried. “Can you help me escape this fire?”  Bigleaf maple tree replied, “No, I’m sorry little mouse, I am afraid that I will not be able to survive this forest fire”. The mouse then ran to the red cedar tree. “Help, help! Can you help me escape the fire?” “No, I’m sorry little mouse, but I do not think that I can survive this great forest fire, either” said Red Cedar. Mouse ran from tree to tree asking the same question, and getting the same answer.  Finally he came to a great old Douglas fir tree, with its thick furrowed bark. “Help, help, Douglas fir!  Can you help me escape this fire?” And Douglas fir replied, “Yes, I think that my thick bark will protect me from the heat of these flames. I may be able to survive this great fire. Climb to the top of my branches, and climb under the scales of my cone for extra protection.” So, little mouse did as he was told, and climbed way up into Douglas fir tree and hid under the scales of the Douglas fir cones. Many other little mice followed him and did the same. And the Douglas fir tree was right, its thick bark protected them from the flames of the fire, and the fire passed them by.  To this day, if you look under the scales of the Douglas fir cone you can still see little mice hiding under the scales of the cones.  (adapted by Heidi Bohan)

As long as we get the ending right, I think that we may create our own versions of the legend for the cones of the trees that stand tall in our British Columbian landscapes.