The Saga Continues . . .

Hey Y'all!

Remember I told you I would post more of the chipmunk saga? Well, Little One, lived several years after I helped her out and rewarded me with numerous clutches of babies! Have you ever heard of biological imprinting? Well that's just what happened with all of Little One's progeny! After that rescue, I never lacked for chipmunk friends as they would all come to me just as their ancestor had!

This chipmunk was a favorite of mine, his name was Chippy (IV or V? I'm not sure) and was easy to distinguish from the others because a squirrel bit off part of his tail one day when they were fighting over some nuts. Chippy loved to get up on my shoulders so he could look around without being afraid something would swoop down and grab him for supper! When I moved to North Caroline, seventeen years ago and one year after these photos, we didn't have any chipmunks for years and years. I made friends with rabbits and woodpeckers, herons and opossums, but I only saw one chipmunk in all the years I have lived here.

Yep, those are my legs when they were much younger, firmer, and tanned! I miss my little friends (and those legs!).

Thanks for all your concern about Kimberli. She seems to be doing pretty good this week and has a big weekend planned with her family and her father. There's an automobile race in Charlotte this weekend and they are big fans (actually, Kim's husband works on a pit crew sometimes). I won't be seeing her or the grands but summer is coming and even though we can't go on vacation we will be able to see each other more often while school is out. Kim is an animal lover too and besides her 3 house cats and 3 dogs, she currently holds the title to 'grandma' to two litters of stray kittens! Her basement became the birthing room for two strays withing 14 hours of each other! She now has a total of 12 cats under her roof. She promises me that she will find them all good, indoor, homes and not keep ANY! She' a sucker for cats. Murphy's about 17 I think and then there's BB who was rescued at Wal-Mart the same time as my Peaches, then Little Bit, who was my younger daughter's cat that they had to get rid of because of allergies. Kim brought her home from Virginia.

Well, happy weekend to all! Remember, to be happy is like a good marriage, you have to work at it!

Tootles

More Wildlife Photos

Hey Y’all! As promised, here are some more of my backyard wildlife photos. But first let me give you a background story on these shots. When I lived in Virginia, my backyard was a “creature sanctuary” that I created because of my love for animals. I had the yard fenced in to keep out dogs and to deter curious neighborhood cats from seeing what was going on in my protected space. I had brush piles for chipmunks, hedge lines for the birds, and water and food on several different levels for all. My backyard was very popular for the wounded or elderly birds, squirrels, and other small animal life that came through; their families would leave them there to live out their days. I watched all the comings and goings from my kitchen window, just fascinated at the everyday drama that happened right outside. One day I noticed a chipmunk that was hobbling on three legs. I got out my binoculars to check closer to see what was wrong. I discovered that the little fellow had been caught in a butterfly or fish net and had chewed his way out except for one circle that was left around his neck and he had one paw caught up in it too. I could see where the net was cutting into his neck and the paw was swollen. I decided that I had to do something to help out the little guy. I got one of my lawn chairs, a butterfly net, a pair of cuticle scissors, leather gloves, and raw peanuts in the shell, then settled down by the area I had seen him frequent to wait on his return. I did this for two days, 3 hours at a time, hoping to lure him close enough to catch him and help out before he died from strangulation or injury. The end of the second day rewarded me with the little guy coming very close to the chair I sat in and whap! I got him! I was praying out loud that I wasn’t giving him a heart attach and that he would cooperate with me while I tried to free him from his man made prison. I discovered that I couldn’t hold the little cuticle scissors with the leather gloves on so I had to do this barehanded. As I held his soft little body, I managed to grip him tight enough that he couldn’t move while I gently clipped away at the netting. When it was cut through, I pulled it away from the raw skin and put Vaseline on the area (it was the only thing I could think of that would be safe to use). While I was doing this, he wasn’t making a single sound nor was he really struggling to get away; I think he was resigned to his inevitable demise because what else could he think after being caught twice in a net! I kept telling him over and over, ‘Little One you will be alright if you let me fix this for you. Just let me fix this for you.” Finally it was over and I removed him from my net and sat him down on the ground so he could run off and lick his wounds and recover his sanity. I was pretty positive that I would never see him again because why in the world would he trust my yard anymore! Two days later, I was sitting on the deck having my morning coffee and tossing peanuts to the birds and squirrels as I always did. When miracle of miracles there came Little One, looking much better than the last time I had seen him, and he jumped up on the deck seat beside me! He gazed up at me like he'd been doing that all his life! The little guy made me cry for happy as I gave him peanuts to take back to his little den. This became a morning ritual for us that went on into the spring of that year. Little One didn’t show up two mornings in a row and I was so worried about him and my family was so put out with me because I was obsessing over the little guy. The third morning, I called him, and he popped his little head out of a brush pile and barked as if to tell me that he could hear me and that he was all right. A week or so after that, I discovered that Little One wasn’t a ‘he’; ‘she’ had six little babies that she led up to the top of the brush pile for me to see! My Aunt Myrtle took these photos of me and Little One the fall of that year. I took the photo of Little One’s babies playing on the brush pile.

There is more to this story but this post has been long enough! Hope y'all enjoy the photos and have a great evening!

Tootles!

PS: Haven’t caught anymore squirrels. I don’t know if I should be happy or sad about this.