The Dancing Chipmunk

Living in the country, the local animals may see what's theirs is theirs and what's yours is theirs. After all, a house placed in the woods looks like an inviting place full of hidden crevices and nooks to explore and hide in. Smells of food are enticing like an open smorgasbord. Lofty places provide excellent vantage points to survey the area for friends and predators. The metal flashing makes a wonderful sound when beating on it to call out for a prospective woodpecker mate. Once they find the way in, the attic with its insulation is home nirvana for field mice. Wasps and bees see the hollows in the walls with the same zeal as cavities in trees; the perfect place for a hive. So, no surprise arose when one day a chipmunk came to call.

The house the chipmunk called at is one far off in a forest. It lies not far from a crystal clear creek. There are large French doors opening from a living space out onto a covered ground level porch just a few steps from the forest carpet. The living room has floor to ceiling glass windows bringing the outside into the room. A bench sits along the glass walls as a place to relax and read. The living room forms part of a great room made up of the living, dining, and kitchen spaces.

The summer day had skies only partly filled with clouds. The sun shone warmly and the air temperature mimicked the sun. The branches of the trees were still in the absence of wind. This day beaconed creatures to enjoy the day and casually explore the area. The French doors on the house were purposefully swung wide apart purposefully making a gaping hole in the side of the house. This wide aperture must have appeared just a space between the trees to any forest animal wandering by.

Out looking for a light snack to round out the joyful day came a chipmunk. This small fluffy tree swinging acrobat found itself on the ground. It must have asked itself, "What nuts might be hiding in the shaded place of this curious looking stand of trees." And so delicately the chipmunk stepped from the dirt outside to the hardwood floors of the house inside. Oh so many new and unusual things in here. The soft cloth covered chairs felt good under paw. The kitchen counter had lingering food smells. And more food smells emanated from behind cabinet doors. But this is a strange place the chipmunk thought. It moved cautiously with excited intrigue.

One so small and exposed near the ground must keep a watchful eye out for the unexpected. The unexpected arrived in an untimely fashion as the chipmunk was just homing in on some salted crackers left out. The tall creature standing erect on two legs to the height of a deer appeared. The tall thing grunted in consternation as its eyes spied the lone chipmunk high on the counter. The chipmunk responded as it instinctively knows to do - run!

The tall creature who entered in through the French doors was me. My first thought was, "Great! That chipmunk does not belong inside!". I moved quickly to keep an eye on its whereabouts and to extricate the animal from the inside. There are so many places it can hide.

This could be a real problem. In my typical male fashion, I started hollering and running after the last place I saw it. Just as predictably, with a big monster rapidly approaching, the chipmunk took off running. The two of us scurried and scampered about the great room. I lunged and it dodged. I advanced and it went sideways. I circled and it circled. My arms wide and my voice yelling, it flew from floor to table to the back of the sofa and beyond. The race was on!

For a supposed intelligent creature, I hadn't applied any critical thinking to the objective of eliminating the chipmunk from the house. I would characterize my process as reactionary versus wise and methodical. As such I found myself blocking the shortest path to the French door exit. I didn't have anything to capture the small guy with. What was I going to use, my bare hands? But what to do? I didn't want it venturing deeper into the bowels of the house. So, I kept it moving by chasing and screaming and it kept accommodating me by running and flying about the room.

I'm imagining the chipmunk wanted out of this situation. It wanted an escape. There weren't any trees to climb. It was finding itself boxed in. Finally, it spied an opening! It made a dash for the forest outside. Confound! It hit the floor to ceiling glass wall! It must have been about as befuddled as a fly confused by this mysterious forcefield. The chipmunk ran back and forth along the glass at the floor looking for the opening that should be right in front of it.

This was my first chance. With my arms wide I moved back and forth in concert with the chipmunk's movements keeping it pinned against the corner where the glass walls met. It settled down looking at me trying to plan its next move.

Here came the real test of cognitive skills. Which one of us was going to solve this problem first. I needed to move the chipmunk outside. I didn't have anything to hand to capture it with. I needed to somehow direct it to the French doors. But how? The chipmunk was probably thinking, "This big creature is threatening and annoying me. I want to get away from it. It keeps blocking my every move. It is between me and the opening I came in through. Now what?" Guess who solved the problem first? Who had the faster problem-solving skills? Whoever says animals aren't smart is delusional. The two of us in a standoff looking at each other, it was the chipmunk who solved the problem first. It fell back on the adage that a good defense is a strong offense.

The chipmunk jumped leapt flew through the air directly toward its attacker - me. It landed on the top of my head. Proving its superiority and venting its frustration, the tiny peewee weight creature proceeding to perform a dance of tiny feet and furry tail upon my head. The dance cadence exceeded 200 beats per minute. It felt like a basket of feathers gently tickling the top of my head. It lasted maybe a second and before I comprehended what had taken place those feathers danced down my back and out the French doors.

I sat on the floor laughing and giggling. I had been scolded and out matched by a three ounce chipmunk! What joy!

copyright Masoner