Our Backyard Chipmunk

Yesterday morning my wife decided to cook our first breakfast in our new home, and as she was doing so I sat in the dining room admiring the view through the double glass doors. All of a sudden, a blur of brown fur ran across the patio outside. It was a chipmunk - one of those small, striped squirrels you see around trees from time to time.

I sat and watched Mr. (or Miss?) Chipmunk for several minutes. It would sit "groundhog style" on the edge of the patio and nervously look around. Then, all of a sudden it would scamper quickly out of view onto the grass and then back onto the patio again.

After watching this strange activity take place several times, I got up and walked a bit closer to the door and peeked around the corner to try to see what Mr. Chipmunk was up to. It turns out that there were pine nuts scattered on the ground under a tree, and the chipmunk was trying to keep several birds from taking any of them. It was a lost cause though, because as he was chasing one bird away another one would swoop in from the other direction, grab a nut and fly away. It seemed like they were taunting him - a game of "Aggravate The Chipmunk".

Cheria and I love our new house with its huge back yard, and we especially love our unexpected (but welcome) furry neighbors.

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