Competitive Chippiness

I would like to contribute to the collection of cute chippies on this site.

While camping, my Dad and I hit a park where the chipmunks were very demanding. They clearly had been fed by others and were very assertive about telling us that we should do the same.

First my Dad had one on his lap.

Then I taught one to sit in my palm. (Or he taught me to hold my palms in the right way for him.)

There were several subordinate chippies that the dominant chipster would chase away if he saw them near by. I developed a two-tiered system of seed distribution to avoid confrontation.

A park ranger stopped by just to say hi and see if we were having a good stay. I quickly closed my fingers around the seeds I was holding and chatted with him for a while. The chipmunks got very impatient during this conversation. They started to race around our feet. They hopped up on the picnic table to investigate our breakfast. One knocked over the seed bag and climbed inside. I bent over the table to try to bring about some order when one climbed up the back of my leg and stood on my shoulder right in front of the ranger. “Ok! All right!” I said and relinquished my palm full of seeds to the munchkin perched close to my face.

This is the bold chippie on his way back down.

So while I may not be on a first name basis with my chippie neighbours like John is, I too have enjoyed some intimate moments with them.

In solidarity with chippies and chippie enthusiasts everywhere,

Nicole