At my research spot I was walking across to the ravine to go check on the gifting rock.  This was early in the morning.  Great weather-sunny and warm but not hot or windy.  The perfect weather to go explore this rugged terrain.  I glanced up towards the cliffs and noticed sticks leaning against a log.  There has been a lot of trees knocked down by the wind over the years.  What made me interested enough to climb up there were how the 2 sticks looked and how they were laying against the log.  Didn't look natural.  The above picture is what I saw when I came within 5 feet.  As you can see the sticks looked like they were laid there.  In the past in this spot I have found many such scenarios very similar to this.  I was thinking sticks used as tools to get ants or termites out.  Much like what chimps have been documented doing.  As I got closer the more excited I became.

 

I noticed it looked recent.  I am talking about sometime that morning.  I looked quickly around but had seen no movements.  I saw some ants in the crevice of the log following each other but some were zipping back and forth looking frantic.  Much like what you would see if you disturbed an anthill.  You can tell where the sticks were used to move the bark and also poked into the crevices of the log.  These sticks were 2-2 1/2 feet long.

If a bear had done this there would be claw marks and the log would be shredded.  This had the look of what I would expect to see if a primate was trying to get ants out of a log. 

Pretty cool isn't it?  Too bad I wasn't able to get a picture of one of our forest friends working at that log.  They are so elusive and smart!  Lets see what else I can document about this family of bipedal primates at my research spot.

SQUATCH ON!