Like any kiddos, mine are big fans of critters and creatures. They are particularly fond of chipmunks, and at the cottage they spend a lot of time feeding and basically domesticating these little creatures.
Turns out they have made fast friends with the little critters at home as well. That was all fine until I noticed the filthy little rodents started tunneling everywhere and patio stones were sinking all over the garden. Daddy-o basically went nuts and started threatening rat traps and shot guns – he experienced “Chipmunk Rage” and it was not pretty. It became his obsession – every conversation became about chipmunks and I even caught him one night on Google using words like “chipmunks” and “death” in the same search.
He went to war with the chipmunks, and it became a battle he was losing. Badly. We were overrun with the little garden wreckers.
The kids were delighted when we picked up some chipmunk traps and began planning a chipmunk relocation. The rock quarry two kilometers up the road seemed the perfect destination for our furry friends.
I was explaining our little plan to another mama one morning at summer camp drop-off. She explained that some animals don’t relocate well but couldn’t comment on how chipmunks fair. When passing along this information to daddy-o, it became clear that he was not concerned about the stress levels or survival statistics of the relocated chipmunks. Fair enough – I think the chipmunk rage daddy-o experienced took a good few years off him.
We set our traps and began to catch them one after the other. When I went to do the first re-location, I noticed dear chippy had a bright orange spot on his back. Apparently daddy-o and the kiddos thought it appropriate to implement a poor man’s tracking system. If chipmunks with orange paint were in our backyard a few days later, it meant that we need to relocate further afield. It seemed I was the only one concerned about how the little critters were going to camouflage with the bright orange spots on them.
Needless to say, 11 trips to the rock quarry later, no orange chipmunks have returned to our property. While driving past the rock quarry last week, I noticed a little orange splat of something on the side of the road. Now my only concern is that the animal services folks might catch wind of our chipmunk relocation. If they rock up to the house asking questions, I think I’ll spray daddy-o with some orange paint and tell them to relocate him.
RSS
can you ask daddy-o if he wants to come and relocate some of the mice in our backyard that have taken up residence under the neighbour’s shed?
too bad you had so many chipmunks that they were messing up the yard…otherwise, semi-tame chipmunks are a great way to get kids off the ‘can we get a dog?’ spiel.
that being said, my mom’s best friend growing up used to tame crows and they eventually started coming into the house!
well I will say that the whole chipmunk thing keeps them completely entertained and occupied. One kid in particular has chipmunks on the mind all day and is the backyard looking for them, trying to catch them, and who knows what else. and yeah, I tried to use the chipmunk line the last time they asked for a pet…..they were not buying in. grrrr. Good grief, crows in the house???
Hi Julie, was great to chat on the Crayola Creativity Cast #GNO last night. Hope you all have a great year! Mabels Labels Rock!