Pine needles vary in size.
Put a ruler next to the needles and take a picture of it, and we would be getting somewhere.
Their habitat is longleaf pine forest, the needles of which are well over a foot long. This species of squirrel does grow to be quite large, look around on YouTube for footage from golf courses along the southeastern coast from NC down to FL, you’ll see plenty of them. They’re as large as a house cat. Not as timid as a grey squirrel either.
I see you’re in Arizona. That kind of ground cover is pretty ubiquitous in the Southeast. Those pine needles are nominally 8 to 10 inches in length.