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A Lesson Learned - by Miss Ears DeMunk It was a great spring and summer. From out on the stoop I can look out over the small backyard that provides a haven for many small animals including all the chipmunks, like myself, who make this our home. The yard is filled with many places where a chippy can hide and play. There are two small fish ponds surrounded by pachysandra and hosta plants and three flower gardens that bloom from spring (when I wake up) until late in the fall when I bed down for the winter. Near the fish ponds is a Buddha who generously offers his head and shoulders to frogs who want to see what's going on. Even I like to sit on Buddha's head on occasion.
There are lots of bird baths set at different levels so everyone has plenty of fresh water and bird feeders bursting with sunflower seeds that spill onto the ground giving us plenty of food to eat. We also have people fiends who live in the big house and who bring us lots of treats like cherries (my favorite), grapes, nuts and, of course, more sunflower seeds.
Beyond the yard, is the forest. There we have lots of trees and shrubs with berries and fruits and nuts to eat. And, separating the yard from the forest is a stone wall that all the chipmunks in the yard love to scamper across. It makes a great place to hide when big animals are around.
So, here it is October and all my backyard friends are busy preparing for the long cold winter ahead. This will be my third winter, but I will always remember the first. I was born in the fall of 2004 (one of three and the runt of the litter). We were about five weeks old when our mom (Chip E. DeMunk) took us out to the woods for the first time. The first thing we learned was the danger signal. You've probably heard it many times and just thought it was chipmunks singing in the woods. It's just a loud CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, CHIP repeated over and over and it means HIDE! TAKE COVER! Once we got the signal down we were shown what we could eat, and in between playing hide and seek and digging holes and filling our bellies, mom would repeatedly send out the danger signal. The next thing we had to learn was how to build our burrow and to fill it with nesting materials to keep us warm over the next few month and then bring in as much food as possible to fill our den. I guess I was having too much fun and didn't really believe it would get too cold to venture outside during the winter or that finding food would be a problem. After all, there was so much food just lying around. Where would it go? It was February, I was in my burrow, and I was cold. When I went to my door, I found it blocked with this really cold, wet, white stuff. I was down to my last few seeds and acorns and trying to make them last, but my tummy hurt most of the time, and I finally decided I would have to dig my way out and try to find some food. It took a long time to get through all that white stuff. Outside, the wind was howling. I made my way over mounds of this white, slippery stuff to the woodpile by the birdfeeder. I was hoping to find some seeds on the ground, but the birds had not been by in a while, and any seeds that had fallen to the ground were covered by snow and ice. I didn't know what I would do. I was so cold and oh, so hungry. As bad as it seems, it must have been my lucky day. The lady who lives in the big house saw me from her window. She came out to the feeder with two big handfuls of seeds. It took six treacherous trips to the den, but she gave me enough food to last into early spring. She has also become my best human friend. Now I understand what my mom was trying to tell me and I make sure I bring enough food into my den to last me right through the spring. I try to teach my children what I have learned, but like all kids, sometimes having a good time is more important than planning for the future. |
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