Wildlife Spotting

Cool. Since we have almost no pine around here, that makes sense. The one's I've seen are parasites on manzanita and fir

These are pine drops, just starting to peak out of the ground, they are very common in the pine forests of Central & Eastern Oregon. They are a parasitic plant that lives under pine trees, getting their nutrients from a fungus that lives on or around the roots of the pine trees. In the fall & winter they dry out & usually the old red stems will be still standing when the new growth comes in in the spring. Deer will occassionally eat the tops when they're fresh

It is definitely different from mine! I don't think I've ever seen that one before

Here's another example from Oregon: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6682126

I think it may be a gnome plant; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemitomes