Unlike squirrels, I've never felt that a chipmunk wanted to kill me. They exact their carnage on the wallet, not the flesh. During my years in New Hampshire (the last time I saw chipmunks!), there were hundreds of them in my yard. I also had chipmunk babies dropping on my back as I dragged fallen branches back into the woods. I only ever named one of them; he was "Bob", because he had only a nub of a tail (it was bobbed). The reason why was never clear, but it made him recognizable and he looked like an old chipmunk who had been through the wars. The extent of their destruction became clear every spring when it was time to restart the irrigation system. Every single year, this involved hours of debugging and repairs due to the chipmunks chewing through the wires that controlled the valves for each zone. Good times!
Now, here, there is so far only one chipmunk (not yet named), and no irrigation system. So I'm hoping for a better outcome this time! That photo above is the lone chipmunk, but there are bound to be others.
Summer is winding down. The lilies have finished blooming and the hummingbird (Godot) is now spending his feeding time at the feeder.
In this video, you can see him nervously feeding while looking up at the sky. You can hear the call of a red-tailed hawk (identified by Merlin app). I never saw the hawk, but it's been around before. It appears that Godot stayed as long as he dared to without contributing to the food chain.
The cardinals still have their run of the place, but some others have appeared on the scene.
A skunk ambled by a week or so ago, but Jack Skunkington fortunately decided to move on....
The truce with the squirrels continues with periodic infringement, but no real harm done.
So, we are looking forward to any changes in the population around here as fall migration kicks into gear!
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