Winter Brushpiles

We were out snowshoeing today,
and noticed trails into all the brushpiles.

We have set up several brush piles on the property. These piles are mostly honeysuckle bushes that we had cut down last summer. We haul and pile up the branches in good spots, the best being locations at the edge between two adjoining habitats. The photo above shows a pile at the edge between the woodlands and the prairie, and quite a path coming from and going into the pile. I could not discern individual tracks, so I am free to speculate what is making these paths. Various animals use brush piles for both home and shelter from predators. Chipmunks, rabbits, voles, groundhogs and even Bobwhite quail (if you are lucky ebough to have Bobwhite quail!) use brushpiles. I checked several sources and not one mentioned squirrels using brushpiles, but we have so many squirrels here that they are probably the ones making or at least contributing to these paths.