A plump mouse used to live in a forest. Near the mouse’s hole, lived a fox who was always on a lookout to eat the mouse. In fear of being eaten up, the mouse seldom used to leave the hole. One day, the mouse was very hungry and gathered courage to venture out of his hole. “I’ll die without food!” he moaned. But as soon as he came out, the fox started following him.
The mouse ran as fast as he could, but the fox was faster. The mouse knew his end was near unless he found a hiding place. Suddenly, he spotted a Douglas-fir cone, with prickly spikes all around it, lying on the ground. Though he was able to escape through it, one of his legs got stuck in the prickly spikes. To this very day, the mouse’s feet can be seen sticking out of the cone id so the legend lives.