Johnny's Chipmunk

Although I'm writing this on April 1st, this is no joke. Last week Johnny spent one miserable night as a result of food poisoning. (This can happen when you buy a sandwich in town, eat half of it and leave the other half sitting out for hours before finishing it off.) The next couple of days he spent either in bed or in a reclining chair, totally wasted.

On the second day, Johnny was sitting in his chair with his legs stretched out when a chipmunk jumped up on his legs and stood there for, Johnny says, at least 20 seconds, staring at him. Then it wandered around his legs for another ten seconds before jumping down and running off.

I should admit that our house has not been chipmunk proof for some time... they come in through cracks between wall and floor in Johnny's study not infrequently. But they usually flee when they spot one of us. This is the first time one has climbed onto someone's lap.

Although Johnny said the chipmunk was very cute, he decided it was time to block off the growing separation between wall and floor after he was functional again. And he did, yesterday. We both hoped the chipmunk was back outside when Johnny finished. Alas, it became apparent last night, while we were in bed, that there was still a chipmunk in our house. And from the way it was prowling around our bedroom, it could not find a way out. Although the room was dark, we could tell a small furry creature had  climbed up onto the bed next to Johnny's head.  (He seems to be a chipmunk magnet.) The chipmunk was apparently looking for a way out the window, which was closed, next to the bed. So Johnny opened it.

Soon I felt the chipmunk take off from our bed... and heard a thunk as it missed the window ledge and hit the wall and fell to the floor. This gave me the giggles.

Johnny decided he could drape a towel over the window ledge. The chipmunk would be able to grab the towel and scramble up and out. Good plan. Didn't work. The chipmunk leaped and pulled the towel down with him to the floor. This sent me into hysterical laughter.

Johnny did not seem to think the whole episode as riotously funny as I did. But really now, two people lying in bed in a dark bedroom, listening for a chipmunk to climb up with them, attempt to jump out an open window and crash to the floor instead... Oh dear, I'm laughing again...

Johnny decided the towel needed to make a bridge from our bed to the window. By now I was laughing so hard I don't know how a chipmunk could dare join us.

And I don't know if it did.

In the morning, Johnny took this photo of his chipmunk towel bridge. I guess we'll find out tonight if the chipmunk made it out the window or not.

I know at least one chipmunk was outside today because I saw it carry a piece of moss across our back porch. It saw me and darted under the house. Later, I saw it again with something in its mouth going somewhere and then returning an instant later with nothing in its mouth. The chipmunk was lining a nest somewhere very close to our back door. I decided to grab my camera, sit, wait and watch.

Soon the chipmunk reappeared around the corner of the house. It was carrying what looked like wood chips or something not nearly so soft as moss, but it scampered to one of my big planters and disappeared inside, reappearing an instant later and running back under the house. I went over to investigate.

The chipmunk has excavated a hole in the dirt under my sage plants. (I have perennial herbs in big pots right outside the back door for use in the kitchen year round.).

I went back to the path and waited some more. Soon the busy little creature reappeared. I attempted to take a photo of it going down the hole in my sage pot but it was too fast for me. However, when it reappeared it saw me and stopped and stared for a few seconds.

Apparently, one branch of my sage was annoying the little homemaker and so it snapped it off.

Then it darted out of the pot and around to the back of the house again, probably finding more somethings to use in her (I'm assuming it's a her) nest. I left her to finish lining her nest in peace.

I'm just glad the nest is not in our bedroom.