Sit down in the garden on a warm summer day and you'll see that many animal populations take advantage of the food stored in plants. Caterpillars munch on leaves, while many beetles prefer tree bark. Birds feast on fruit, often gobbling seeds and all. The seeds are later deposited in new places complete with a built-in source of fertilizer. Squirrels must crack open the hard shells of the nuts they gather to reach the nutritious meat inside. Gophers tunnel beneath the soil in search of tubers and bulbs. This passage of energy from plants to animals is called a food chain. But the food chain doesn't stop here. Toads snap caterpillars off the undersides of leaves at night. Woodpeckers hammer holes in the bark to find beetle larvae. Local cats hunt gophers. A raccoon eats fruit, but it's just as likely to make a meal of birds’ eggs.