Holes

I was out walking the other day, and I noticed this:

  

Can you see all the wood chips around the bottom of the tree trunk?  That is always a sign to look around, to see where they came from.  So I did, and when I looked up, I saw this:

Only one critter, that I know of, makes those big oblong holes in a tree - a pileated woodpecker!  I know they are in these woods, but in spite of their being so big and noisy, I rarely see them.  It is great to see signs like this.

A little ways away from this dead tree, I saw this:

Another dead tree, another hole - more than one, actually.  But this hole was very close to the ground, and much larger inside than out.  Who made it?  Upon closer examination, I saw this:

I still don't know exactly who made the hole, but a little mouse (white-footed mouse? wood mouse?) has been using it as a dining room.  Look at those munched acorns - they look like the ones I find in the corners of my shed.  So I call this a mouse house!

It would be really neat to see all the creatures that I know are out there in "my" woods and meadows, but it is also very mysterious and intriguing to know that they are there, unseen.  I imagine they see us far more often than we see them.  So many secrets held in the outdoors...