Happy Harvest Blog
this chipmunk is having a bad day
Another baby chipmunk went for a dunk in a bucket. This time when I lifted him out he didn't even have the strength to lift a limb or grab on my finger and was just a limp rodent in my hand while I carried him to get a rag, wrap him up, rub him a little to dry him off, and rewrap him in a dry spot. I don't know how long he was in there, but he was definitely near succumbing.
Viva les chipmunks!
After the last rain, I found a chipmunk floating dead in a water bucket, unable to swim any longer. I was sick about it all day. There is plenty of tragedy out here. Not life eats life, which we call "that's life", but preventable death or pain, especially due to human (my) activity. Animal death for the sake of human convenience, because a sophisticated and specialized animal hasn't evolved fast enough to cope with human experiments like plastics and cars, that's tragic, and it's a tragic drama of global scale. Everywhere we look there is destruction of animals deliberately, accidentally, and indirectly.
Busted!
I found a little trail of chicken feed on the floor in the middle of the house, and HW told me he'd left it there as an exhibit. He'd come in and found a chipmunk in the middle of the room. It had been robbing chicken feed from the bucket (we bring it inside to add scraps during the day). Busted! The chipmunk froze, its mouth literally fell open with shock and terror, and then the feed stuffed in its cheeks came pouring out as it raced for the door (it had to pass HW - the drawbacks of raiding a joint with only one exit).
Gatekeeper
Almost every day these days, the gate is decorated. There's a chipmunk that thinks the gate is the best snack spot ever, and he leaves multiple partially chewed apples balancing on the edge of the boards that make the swinging gate, or on top of the post that anchors it.
Strawberry snack
I've got a chipmunk helping him/herself in the strawberry beds.Every so often I hear a surprised "Eeep!" when I'm working in the garden, but I rarely see the culprit.However, I see the meal interrupted on his table, which is the cutest part.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
