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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I Saw A Little Chipmunk

There was a day about two months ago that I tried my best to get a picture of a chipmunk that was playing on the nature trail. I was new to being The Everyday Adventurer and new to my camera. I went home and excitedly told a small story of how I saw a chipmunk and almost got a picture of it. I hadn't gotten any wildlife pictures yet, and that was the closest I had come at that time. It was a bittersweet moment, as I was disappointed that I was too slow, but as I said before ultimately excited at the close call. Since then, I've been waiting and watching for my chance to redeem myself with a nice little picture of a chipmunk. Today I am a king! Here is my first picture of a chipmunk! I got this very close to where I saw that first elusive chipmunk. I would bet they're closely related to each other. This little guy was faster than the first one, but now I'm an experienced everyday adventurer, and I was just that much faster. He didn't come very far out onto the nature trail, but I spotted him and got this picture anyway.

A chipmunk is a squirrel-like rodent species of the genus Tamias in the family Sciuridae. You can identify them by the light colored stripes running down their backs. They are sometimes known as "striped squirrels" or "ground squirrels". They are known for storing food in their mouths until their cheeks bulge out. When my sister was very young, her cheeks used to puff out, and people would call her "chipmunk cheeks". It was sometimes an amusing sight to see this tiny little girl with the puffy cheeks. She actually did resemble a chipmunk. I don't remember any stripes though. There was a music group called Alvin and the Chipmunks that had a few hit songs. They eventually became cartoon characters with several popular cartoons. One of the last used to be one I liked to watch.

This is, so far, the best picture I was able to get. I tried to take more, but the little guy ran into the forest in spite of my best efforts to be still and quiet. If he would have just waited a few seconds more!
AAAALLLLVVVVIIIINNNN!!!!!!

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