How long it would take, I had no idea. Maybe a week? Maybe two? However long it would be, I was confident in it's success.
My plan was simple enough. I would set up a lawn chair on the patio and place a small pile of almonds 6-8 feet away. Then, I would sit in the chair and wait quietly. If the chipmunk took those almonds, I would leave another pile just a few feet away from me. If the chipmunk took those, too, the next almonds would have to be taken from my hand.
So, I set the bait, sat down, and waited. It was close to an hour before the chipmunk finally made it's first appearance. It discovered the almonds rather quickly and began stuffing it's cheeks before disappearing down the hole to it's burrow. Success!
Another pile of almonds was placed on the ground, this time just a couple of feet away from me. Here, you can see the almonds along with the red arm-rest of the chair I was sitting in. My blue pants are also visible on the left edge of the picture.
The chipmunk emerged from it's burrow after a couple of minutes and didn't waste much time gathering the new almonds into it's cheeks. Well, it seemed that this was going to be easier than I had thought.
As the chipmunk was down in it's burrow, hoarding it's nuts, I poured some almonds into my hand. I also had my camera ready. There was no way I wasn't going to capture this moment on film. Here are stills from that first time this chipmunk took almonds from my hand.
For two weeks straight, this became part of my daily routine. This chipmunk became very comfortable with me. Often, it seemed to be waiting for me to come outside. When I'd walk onto my porch, it would start to hop up the porch stairs as if to greet me.
When I would sit out on the patio in a chair, it would hop around me. One time, it leaped onto my shin for a couple of seconds before jumping back down. Another time, it jumped onto the table and ran over to where I was sitting. I thought it was going to leap onto my shoulder. It put both if it's front paws on my shoulder for a couple of seconds before hopping away.
It seemed to enjoy doing parkour using the patio chairs and table. This unique relationship allowed me to get some really great footage when I wanted to. I could get my camera close without scaring the chipmunk away.
In the beginning, this chipmunk could only fit four almonds into it's mouth. After two weeks, it could stuff seven in there. Now, chipmunks need a balanced diet. In fact, they are omnivores. They'll even eat meat if the opportunity presents. Well, I didn't have any dead carcasses lying around. But, I did have some berries.
I have left out blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Blueberries seem to be it's favorite of the three. The chipmunk would grab a berry and hop underneath the patio table, for protection, while it enjoyed it's treat.
As I said earlier, this was my daily routine for two straight weeks. After that, the chipmunk stopped showing up. I would still leave almonds out and the almonds would disappear, but, nothing ever made an appearance while I was out there. It could have been birds or squirrels taking the nuts.
One day I decided to leave some nuts out along with my camera recording on a tripod. I was able to confirm, from that, that a chipmunk was taking the almonds. I have some theories as to what happened.
The simplest, and most likely, is that the chipmunk died and this is a different one. Chipmunks live alone in their burrows and I was able to confirm that a chipmunk is using the same burrow as the one that was friendly with me. That would mean another chipmunk moved into it's burrow.
The only time chipmunks live with other chipmunks is after a female gives birth. The babies stay in the burrow for about a month before they emerge and begin learning the skills necessary to become independent chipmunks. This learning period lasts about two weeks before the mom bans the kids from the burrow permanently.
I have wondered if these are the children learning how to forage for food. That would explain why they are afraid of me.
Another possibility is that another chipmunk took over the burrow and kicked the original chipmunk out. Nowhere in my research did I find any evidence that chipmunks do this. But, if they do, that burrow would be highly coveted as it is choc full of almonds, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. Which leads me to my last theory.
Maybe the chipmunk just doesn't need any more food to store away for winter. I gave it more than enough nuts to last through this winter and beyond. However, I don't know if they have the awareness to understand that, or if they are just hard-wired to keep hoarding as much as they possibly can.
I still don't know what happened to that chipmunk, but I'm forever thankful for those two weeks. Thank you for reading!
Wherever we are, we are surrounded by nature. It's always trying to communicate with us. Take time to notice. #NoticeNature.
All gifs and images are my own unless otherwise stated.
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