The Watchers

Take a very close look at this top picture. Go ahead and click on it to see it closer if you need to. You see that furry little critter on that tree stump? He's one of the watchers. I know, I know, you think it's just more squirrels. The return of Mr. Nutz or something like that. Nope, I already did that one, and this isn't even a squirrel.

This little guy is actually a Chipmunk. If you think squirrels are full of mischief, you can't even begin to imagine what chipmunks are like. These animals are such crazy little characters that they've inspired several cartoons about them. Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Chip and Dale are just a couple of them.

I've had a few encounters with chipmunks before this. But the group in these pictures might be the oddest sighting so far. I was coming from the back of one of the nature parks, where I saw some really good stuff, and the thought of chipmunks popped into my head. I looked to my left and I just saw one of these striped little punks running away.

I wasn't fast enough to even get a bad picture of him, so I went on my way. I now had thoughts of getting a picture of a chipmunk in my head. That was the first one I'd seen this year, and now I had a new quest. I thought this was going to be tough.

I walked on for a ways until I was about halfway back to the front of the park. The thought of chipmunks came back all of a sudden. I looked to my left again and saw another one running just on the side of the trail! Would I get a picture of this one? Well, it's the one sitting right on top of that tree stump.

There was something very strange about this encounter with a chipmunk though. As I took my pictures, the chipmunk wasn't leaving. Squirrels almost always run away after a few seconds, but this little guy was watching me watching him. Even after I got my pictures we had a stare down. Angry because I lost, I stomped the ground at him, and he finally ran away.

As I moved up the trail, I saw another one! This one came over to stare at me too! This was now as many chipmunks as I saw all of last year, and they were a curious bunch. I didn't know there were any chipmunks in this park, but now I was seeing a small group.

Of course I took plenty of pictures of this third one too. You know I wouldn't pass up this opportunity. Seeing three chipmunks in one day is special, but getting pictures of two of them is unheard of for me. When I finished up with this one, something even stranger happened.

I saw a fourth chipmunk! I must have found a whole family of them, and they were all watching me! Honestly, this was getting a little creepy now. These chipmunks were all coming over to look at me, and they didn't seem to be very afraid at all. I was happy to see them, but I was also thinking that maybe I should leave.

I turned to leave, and then I saw it on the other side of the trail. Number five! It happened the same as the others. It climbed up on an old fallen log to stare at me! I also got plenty of pictures of this last one. I'll show you those another time, but I have them.

These real chipmunks built an army much faster than the fictional squirrel, Mr. Nutz did. They never seemed angry with me, just extremely curious. It was a very interesting experience, even though it was also getting kind of creepy too. I really needed to get out of there.

After I made my way out of that section of the park, I didn't see any more of them. That doesn't mean there weren't more of them watching, it's just that I didn't see them. When I got back to my truck, I knew that I had another very good everyday adventure.