Margaret's Chipmunk Observations

This morning, my sister, Marie, and I saw two families of chipmunks. One of them was just bringing nuts to its home under our deck. We have been watching this family for a very long time. We watched for a while and then realized their route. The female would run from the rhododendron bush to a small pine tree near our deck. Then the male, who was always waiting for her under the pine tree, would take the nuts, fill his cheeks with them, and run to their hole under the deck. The female would quickly run under the deck herself. They would do this over and over again, taking the same route exactly.

The other family of chipmunks were running from our pussy willow along the brick path leading around the pool to the other side of the rhododendron bush. We watched them for a little while and thought they were obviously moving nests. Then, all of a sudden, the female returned and came back on the same route with a thimble-sized baby in her mouth. She took swift steps along the bricks and then disappeared in the strip of garden to hide from a slow circling hawk or any other predators that might swoop down at any minute.

The first pair of chipmunks were still gathering nuts and running back and forth, working so hard to store up nuts for the winter. They retreated to their nest for a while, and a big gray squirrel came, by the looks of it also in search of nuts. He was sniffing around the deck and looking everywhere for something to eat. He sniffed out the location of the chipmunks' nest and went in. Two terrified chipmunks scurried out, forgetting to bring their nut supply. The squirrel came out a minute later with two big cheekfulls of nuts and brought them back across the deck to where he would probably gobble them down or store them for himself.

I read a book called "The Secrets of the Woods" by William J. Long. In that book, the author noted the behavior of the red squirrel doing the same thing. He also noted that the gray squirrel was peaceful and minded his own business. I am not so sure about that!

Comments

[Rebecca B.]

How very amazing to see the baby chipmunk! I have never seen one. Did it have any fur?

[Luis]

we also have lost a lot of our garden to cihumpnks and most of our green beans have fattened a already fat wood chuck but to stop growing vegetables?I love flowers growing in the yard and garden and would have more if I had more space . but really if I had more space I would grow more vegetables, that is just who we are. We love the food we grow, we rejoice when he first cucumber or zucchini is large enough to come into the house, and oh my that first corn and tomato pie of the summer some dishes are not the same without fresh from the garden ingredients.Our plan is to fight these raiders much the same way bugs are kept off plants with floating row covers only woven wire (1/2 hardware cloth) does not float like row cover does. I plan to build hardware cloth covered frames over the strawberry rows to keep the cihumpnks away from the strawberries. Similar covers may keep the wood chuck from the beans but I will have to be creative to keep him from the tomatoes.I may also have to transition to raised beds with wire bottoms as both pest can borrow up from underneath but that may not stop the chuck as I did have him in my live trap this week but he tore a hole in the cage door and escaped before I got home from work He really needs to be relocated!