Summer Update

One of the three baby chipmunk stays close to the security of the woodpile.

One of the more adventurous baby chipmunks tries a little tree climbing.

As it turns out, there are not two but three new chipmunks: Their names are Junior, June, and Scooter. Since they're all so small and indistinguishable from each other, I simply refer to them all as Chippy. One, so far, is willing to sniff a person's toes, but won't jump up into a lap.

Rose is the one to do that. She'll actually try running up my (bare) leg if I don't drop a peanut fast enough for her. She'll also sit in my lap, eat on the table, and turn away any peanut not to her liking. Apparently, before stuffing as many as three peanuts into her cheeks, she chews off the rough edges to make sure that they don't irritate her. If a peanut is cracked--or is open on one end--she quickly drops it and asks for something of better quality.

I said chipmunks were demanding. Now it's clear just how demanding.

Other news: Yesterday, I noticed five different kinds of ground squirrels in the back yard: (1) the chipmunks, (2) a half-grown rabbit, (3) several grey squirrels, (4) the notorious thirteen-lined ground squirrel, and (the most recent guest) (5) the red squirrel. (See picture.) The red squirrel is somewhere between the chipmunk and the grey squirrel in size and is probably the most agile tree climber of any of its ground squirrel cousins. Whether it makes any sounds is yet to be discovered.

Meanwhile Chip-Chip still resides behind the front step and routinely visits the garage for food. One day he stuffed so many peanuts and sunflower seeds into the car's engine that they blew out all over the floor when I turned on the heater. What a mess!

On a related note, a mouse built a nest inside the riding lawn mower, right next to the battery case. After I stopped the mower on the driveway to fill up with gas, I noticed that the mouse came out of the bottom of the mower, no worse for its ride, and it was holding a baby mouse in its mouth. Well, I pushed the mower back, and the mouse kept running underneath it. Finally, it raced for the open garage, with the baby still in tow. Something didn't feel quite right, so I investigated the riding lawn mower and found a nest inside--with two more babies in it. I scooped out the nest, put it in a bucket, and laid the bucket on its side toward the rear of the garage. In just a few minutes, the babies were gone. The mother had fetched them. So they all survived a ride across the lawn on the riding lawn mower, were reunited, and are probably stuffing sunflower seeds somewhere in my car.

Moral: No good deed goes unpunished.

Almost Summer

Summer Notes

Chip-Chip, the character who motivated this blog, continues to live behind the front step, suns himself in the afternoon, and has grown somewhat shy—perhaps from recent visits by stray cats or by the population explosion of grey squirrels that swipe the food and water left out for him.

Chipper seems to have disappeared altogether. He or she lived in the burrow along the foundation of the neighbor’s garage. Since a strong storm and heavy rains flooded the burrow, I worried that any babies would be drowned. But I didn't worry about Chipper. Given chipmunks’ ability to create multiple escape routes, it was unlikely that Chipper was drowned out.

Rose, to a large degree, has stolen the story line. She is now so tame that she practically jumps in my lap when I’m sitting on the deck; she will follow me around in the garden and jump up on my running shoes if I don’t offer her a peanut quickly enough; and, as already mentioned, she will invite herself into the house. She has gotten so aggressive and so tame that at feeding time she jumped into the basket on the grill trying to solicit peanuts from me—and the grill was full of white-hot coals. Covering the lid and warning Rose of the dangers of getting to close to an oven, I imagined for a moment the possibility of roast chipmunk.

Rose also chases off Junior if they get too close to each other on the deck. Junior will usually approach Rose and sniff noses; she rebuffs the affection and shoes away the adolescent. Nothing violent. But Junior knows enough not to bother her. Junior is also not the only half-pint chipmunk, as earlier and erroneously reported. Junior in fact has a sibling. Scooter. The back yard now has two chipmunks from Generation Next.

Finally, just as Rose chases off the junior generation, the catbirds have been more than a little aggressive in keeping the chipmunks away from their nest. For shy birds, the catbirds chase away the chipmunks any chance they get, and, in one instance, a catbird attacked Rose just as I was handing her a peanut, right in front of me. I was caught off guard and said something intelligent like, “Hey!” And Rose scampered off until the catbird settled in the nearby juniper tree. Undeterred by the catbird, Rose returned and continued to beg from me.

The catbird meowed from the branch, keeping a close eye on me as well. It didn’t seem too happy that I was an ally of its archenemy.

That’s some chutzpah from the notoriously shy bird. Apparently, where their young are concerned, catbirds are capable of surprising boldness.

Another New Neighbor

From the entrance of her burrow, Chipper checks to see whether the coast is clear . . .

. . . pauses to give me the once-over . . .

. . . races toward the strategically placed peanut . . .

. . . and enjoys a snack . . . and a break from Junior.

Chipper saves a peanut for later . . . or for Junior, who has yet to be photographed.

June Updates:

Rose invited herself into the house. She is one curious little chipmunk, sniffing around on the floor and checking out the furniture. I had to encourage her to return to her more appropriate accommodations . . . outside. Next time she will probably want a chocolate chip cookie and a cool glass of lemonade.

I have also been referring to Chipper with the wrong pronoun. Chipper, it appears, is another female chipmunk. A little pup appeared from her burrow along the neighbor's garage. Although it was skittish at first, it's now getting used to fetching peanuts from me. The little guy--or girl--is approximately two-thirds the size of Chipper.

Chip-Chip has been scarce today. But yesterday, he peeked in the front door, eavesdropping on my conversations, no doubt. He's also been known to climb the birdfeeder pole outside the living room window, perch on top the birdfeeder, and peer into the house. He's something of a little window peeker. So now what the grey squirrel was doing to Chipper, Chip-Chip is doing to me: In other words, I have a chipmunk stalker.

Who'd've thunk it.

A Noisy Neighborhood

A cousin of the chipmunk, the 13-lined ground squirrel has a few similar features, especially around the head area. It also lets out a warning call when threatened, just as the chipmunk does.

Everybody seems to be in a frenzy these days.

The grackles are busy feeding their squawking fledglings, both sounding disagreeable in the process. Grackles, by the way, are among the earliest nest builders, the earliest to lay eggs, and the earliest to fill up the neighborhood with a population increase-induced chatter. That they're among the earliest makes them also among the most successful. The young have a long period of decent weather to mature and prepare for winter, and, if tragic events should visit them--say, a storm destroys their nest--grackles have more than enough time to hatch another brood. Sparrows and finches come in a close second, followed by robins. The meat eaters, unfortunately, tend to build their nests late, have fewer chicks, and, as a result, their numbers hardly compare to those of the grackles. The swallows, wrens, and bluebirds are good examples.

The chipmunks are also chattering away. Sometimes, they will just sit still and chirp, probably calling to their buddies across the yard. To the inexperienced ear, the regular chirp of the chipmunk could easily be mistaken for the song of a finch or sparrow. It's fairly consistent and regular. If you watch a chipmunk calling another one, you'll see it pause, as if waiting for a reply. After awhile you'll notice when a "conversation" is taking place. And you have to hand it to the cross-talk of Rose, Chipper, and Chip-Chip: They can keep in touch with each other without text messaging or cell phones or outrageous carrier fees. Wi-fi and broadband don't improve the quality of their lives one little bit.

Myth buster Alert: You'll not have to look far to find some nit wit discussion about how chipmunks are solitary animals. Although it's true that they need their space--and they will chase off competitors for food, just as other critters and birds will do--chipmunks prefer company to isolation. Whether it's staying in touch through chirps or by lounging on the deck with a cool drink, chipmunks are social animals. At times, they seem to prefer scampering around the shoes of humans, sniffing them, and looking up curiously as if to find out who belongs to that particular scent. At other times, they seem to shun their human companions for a time and focus on each other. But the conclusion is clear: Just like most humans, chipmunks seek out contact with members of their own species or members of other species--us. (Another minor myth buster: A critic of my argument might suggest that chipmunks are merely exploiting their relationship with humans for food. That is in part true. But they will also ignore peanuts or sunflower seeds, preferring instead to just sit quietly and look at or listen to the ramblings of their human companion. They indeed show enduring patience for the long-winded rambler.)

Then there's the other kind of chipmunk communication.

If you want to hear a chipmunk throw a hissy fit, introduce a cat into the area. Chipmunks will act as if they're personally offended that such a nasty creature has encroached upon their territory and threatened their daily routines. Chip-Chip is no different. He seemed completely inconsolable for a good ten minutes when a cat decided to lounge on his front step.

Advice: If you hear chipmunks getting all worked up--which means that birds may be doing likewise--take a moment to step outside and check out the usual hiding places. A critter is probably lurking in their comfort zone. Get out the broom and redirect the critter into your neighbor's yard. Your neighbor won't mind.

An upset chipmunk will appreciate your attempts at comforting him.

A few peanuts couldn't hurt, either.