October 20, 2020 at 4:42 p.m.
Kitchen has become quiet again
As I See It
By Diana Dolecki-
Chippie the chipmunk has left the building.
Chippie has used our home as his own personal snack bar for the past few months. Living across from a river has virtually assured us of annual visits by furry critters. I expect mice to find their way in since they are so little. They are easily dispatched by way of a few mouse traps. We haven’t seen any mice this year. Chippie was a little more of a challenge.
The first time I saw Chippie he dove for cover and all I saw was his chestnut colored bottom disappearing from sight. A day or so later we noticed that the dry cat food we left out had been raided. I asked Gracie how he was getting inside and she led me to the front door. A day or so after that my hubby motioned me to look at the cat’s food bowl. Chippie was hanging over the edge of the bowl and was stuffing cat food into his cheeks as fast as he could. We quit leaving food out for the cat.
Chippie avoided all the traps we had set out. We bought a live trap specifically for him. We baited it with dry cat food since that had seemed to have been his choice of snacks. Up until this week he had avoided it. We bought a package of ultrasound things that were supposed to emit a noise that was irritating to chipmunks and inaudible to humans.
We plugged them in and for two or three days there was no sign of Chippie. We foolishly thought that meant the devices worked. Apparently Chippie had been busy fashioning a set of ear plugs that rendered him immune to the noise.
We had left an unopened package of English muffins on the kitchen table. The next morning there was a big hole chewed in the plastic wrapper and two of the muffins were missing. There were bits of chewed package on the table but no muffin crumbs. I still don’t know how he did that. The remaining muffins were relocated to the trash.
A day or so later I heard a loud commotion in the kitchen not long after midnight. I waited until things had settled down before venturing into the kitchen. Armed with a long-handled duster I quietly crept into the kitchen to find out if we had caught him. Nothing seemed out of place, except that the door on the live trap was closed.
There was something else in the cage. Two pieces of cardboard like the kind used as lids on carryout containers were taking up a good bit of the cage. I have no idea why they were there. Chippie didn’t move.
The following morning Chippie was approved for the Chippie Protection Program. CPP for short. He entered the transportation device (the live trap) between 1:00 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. He has since been relocated to an unspecified location (the park). When he realized that the cage door was open he took off like a shot. Next on the agenda is to clean the nest out of the oven drawer and search for any of his friends that may have been left behind. Chippie was unharmed.
As part of his agreement with the CPP officials, Chippie has become a popular motivational speaker. Most of his speeches concern the hazards of entering a human home. He tells his audience that most humans aren’t so nice. He had heard that poison was a future option. The stories of people shooting at the helpless rodents made his whole body shiver.
We are hoping that his family has found him and that he is too traumatized to return to a life living with humans. The kitchen is quiet again.
Chippie has used our home as his own personal snack bar for the past few months. Living across from a river has virtually assured us of annual visits by furry critters. I expect mice to find their way in since they are so little. They are easily dispatched by way of a few mouse traps. We haven’t seen any mice this year. Chippie was a little more of a challenge.
The first time I saw Chippie he dove for cover and all I saw was his chestnut colored bottom disappearing from sight. A day or so later we noticed that the dry cat food we left out had been raided. I asked Gracie how he was getting inside and she led me to the front door. A day or so after that my hubby motioned me to look at the cat’s food bowl. Chippie was hanging over the edge of the bowl and was stuffing cat food into his cheeks as fast as he could. We quit leaving food out for the cat.
Chippie avoided all the traps we had set out. We bought a live trap specifically for him. We baited it with dry cat food since that had seemed to have been his choice of snacks. Up until this week he had avoided it. We bought a package of ultrasound things that were supposed to emit a noise that was irritating to chipmunks and inaudible to humans.
We plugged them in and for two or three days there was no sign of Chippie. We foolishly thought that meant the devices worked. Apparently Chippie had been busy fashioning a set of ear plugs that rendered him immune to the noise.
We had left an unopened package of English muffins on the kitchen table. The next morning there was a big hole chewed in the plastic wrapper and two of the muffins were missing. There were bits of chewed package on the table but no muffin crumbs. I still don’t know how he did that. The remaining muffins were relocated to the trash.
A day or so later I heard a loud commotion in the kitchen not long after midnight. I waited until things had settled down before venturing into the kitchen. Armed with a long-handled duster I quietly crept into the kitchen to find out if we had caught him. Nothing seemed out of place, except that the door on the live trap was closed.
There was something else in the cage. Two pieces of cardboard like the kind used as lids on carryout containers were taking up a good bit of the cage. I have no idea why they were there. Chippie didn’t move.
The following morning Chippie was approved for the Chippie Protection Program. CPP for short. He entered the transportation device (the live trap) between 1:00 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. He has since been relocated to an unspecified location (the park). When he realized that the cage door was open he took off like a shot. Next on the agenda is to clean the nest out of the oven drawer and search for any of his friends that may have been left behind. Chippie was unharmed.
As part of his agreement with the CPP officials, Chippie has become a popular motivational speaker. Most of his speeches concern the hazards of entering a human home. He tells his audience that most humans aren’t so nice. He had heard that poison was a future option. The stories of people shooting at the helpless rodents made his whole body shiver.
We are hoping that his family has found him and that he is too traumatized to return to a life living with humans. The kitchen is quiet again.
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