While I have lived here in the Robson Valley for over forty years, I still occasionally come upon an animal that I had never before seen on our property. That happened the other day when I was coming around the greenhouse after a walk around the pond. My eye caught a glimpse of some small mammal scampering away. My first thought was that it was a young squirrel, but as I stood still, the animal came back into view which allowed me to see the white stripes on it’s back, and I realized it was a chipmunk.
I had never seen a chipmunk on our property, although I knew they lived in the area. Once when I climbed up to the rockslide, just below the rock bluffs that are situated high on the slope above our house, I did see a chipmunk, but that was the only time. Last year, our neighbor Glen told me he had a pair of chipmunks spend the summer around his house, so maybe the chipmunks are starting to explore life at lower elevations.
Chipmunks only eat seeds. While they can sometimes be spotted “eating” berries and fruit, what they are actually eating is just the seeds inside. Chipmunks dig two meter-long burrows where they spend the winter. They stock their burrows with about 2 liters of saved seeds that they gather.
Yesterday, Kona spent hours of time outside, staring down and chasing some small animal, and I wonder if she too, has now discovered the chipmunk.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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