The Hungry Chipmunk

Do you wanna see one of the cutest little chipmunks ever? Well here he is! Take a good look at him! I not only have several pictures of this little guy, but I also have a new episode of Rat TV featuring this little guy. He really made my day when I found him there on those steps. Let me explain a bit.

I was walking up from the fishing platform where there is a ramp that splits into two sections. The right section leads to these stairs that lead up to the path to the back of the park I was at. When I made the small turn to go to the stairs I saw this chipmunk about two thirds of the way up.

As soon as the chipmunk saw me it of course ran and hid behind one of the steps. It had been hungrily eating something before it hid from me, so I thought maybe I would wait, just in case it might come back. I stood there very still for several minutes before I began to decide it might be time to give up.

Just before I decided to move on, the little chipmunk came back out to find its meal again. I wasn't moving so it didn't pay much attention to me. If you don't move, most animals will not believe you are a threat. They will sometimes completely ignore your presence. Some will even walk right up to you. This chipmunk almost did just that.

I watched it eat for several minutes as it filled its cheeks more and more. This is actually the first chipmunk I've ever seen that stayed long enough for me to watch it fatten its cheeks with food. It was fascinating! At times, this little guy would stuff big pieces of acorns in its mouth without much chewing at all. It would just slide them right in.


This episode of Rat TV is the first that I'm bringing you that can be watched in high definition. You can choose that in the options if your connection is fast enough. It looks good no matter which way you watch it. As usual, it starts out kind of shaky. I'm still having trouble with that. It gets better after a few seconds. This video shows the chipmunk searching back and forth for more acorns and then finding something tasty.

These last two pictures are here mostly so you get to see a nice sampling of the different poses he did. There were so many more, but they're just too many to bring you in one post.

While I was getting these pictures a squirrel came over to a tree and hung there on the trunk chattering angrily at me. I guess he didn't like me paying any attention to the chipmunk while he was there. So I took a few quick pictures of him too, and he was satisfied enough to move on.

Here is one final look at chipmunk cheeks. As long as I stood still he didn't mind my presence. I even waved my arms without him getting nervous. He soon began moving down the steps towards me. Some odd noises from somewhere else finally scared him away. I soon moved on my way as well.

Nature Center Magazine - On what is usually the day for Copas to bring us Exploring The United States, we will bring you a list of the top ten newly discovered species of 2010, including a couple of links to bigger articles detailing the same. Copas will return next week.