Preparation for the winter

Last weekend the Mister and I journeyed into the mountains. Despite temperatures reaching into the 80s (in the mountains, in West Virginia, in October!), smart organisms were preparing for the winter.
Chipmunks were on high alert. Around the Civil War graves at Droop Knob State Park, Eastern Grey Squirrels were chasing walnuts and each other. At Bear Town State Park,
the Red Squirrels stashing acorns and conifer cones wouldn't stop long enough for us to take a clear photo.












The trees were reabsorbing their chlorophyll.
And, at least one bear at Droop Mountain was eating large quantities. Whether he (or she) was absorbing any of the nutrients I have no idea, because he (or she) was certainly piling up the scat on along the trail. We encountered at least 6 large plops in less than a fourth mile of trail. Two were still glistening fresh, two appeared to be the previous day's, and two were still very squishy but growing mold.


Back at home our chipmunks seem especially excitable, our marmot (the local groundhog) is very fat, apparently feasting on chestnuts, and two beaver are building a lodge in the river which is visible from the bridge we cross on the way to work. Winter's coming!

No Harassing The Chipmunks

The Mister has lots of rules regarding living in our house: no harassing the chipmunks, humingbirds or finches; no clawing clothes; no pawing pens as we write; if you stay here you can't have kittens.

The plain weird thing is that these rules are being expounded to a small cat who may have a home with one of our neighbors, does not have a name, and clearly makes both of us itchy-eyed.

While she may not look like a terrorizer of chipmunks, that is the Mister's midsection she is napping upon. Her winsome ways and loud and hearty purring have clearly bewitched the humans of this household. Who knows what she might do to its rodents?

Chipmunk with Discriminating Palate

Before we set off on the Summit Loop in the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness, the Mister and I carbo-loaded with some rice cakes, not just any rice cakes, but the the really good ones (genuinely: brown rice with tamari and seaweed). The woods were full of frisky Eastern Chipmunks. One such critter ran over to us, sniffed the ground, took a piece of rice cake, and spit it back out.

Chipmunks in Suburbia

West of a certain point (perhaps Chicago), chipmunks indicate woods, and west of another point, (perhaps Lawrence), woods mean mountains. As a Coloradan, I still associate chipmunks with being in the mountains. Squirrels are suburban. Chipmunks are exotic.

This perhaps explains why I was so astounded by the number of chipmunks running around the Chicago Botanic Gardens looking very fat and very happy.
The gardens, by the way, are large and grand, and worth visiting, but not worth a large detour.

Weekend of Many Rodents

Friday night the Mister saw "Our Marmot" who apparently survived last week's flood (all of the visible groundhog holes were far under water). Saturday we went botanizing to look at spring ephemerals (The flowers were gorgeous. I'm returning with my botany students in tow on Wednesday and hope to take photographs), and saw a groundhog near the interstate, a very fat fox squirrel with quite the foxy tail at Core Arboretum and an eastern chipmunk at the university forest. Sunday night we saw the beaver, suggesting that he, too survived the flood, although I was less concerned about him.

Chipmunk vs. Irises

We haven't seen the cute chipmunk we believe lives in a hole by the front doorstep for a week, but today we have new evidence chipmunk is alive. Near the hole six gorgeous little iris reticulata were blooming yesterday. Today all six are crumpled. While it's possible the warm weather caused an untimely flame-out of an iris, the two I inspected closely were clearly scraped and severed. Mean chipmunk.

Bonus Rodent Day

On one fantastic day over spring break, we not only saw this cutie (Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus) who lives(d?) in a hole by our front porch, but we also saw a bunch of Eastern Grays (Sciurus carolinensis) at the wildlife preserve (although they were not the featured animals),
and our prairie dog and Vancouver Island Marmot made trips to the mountains, including Blackwater Falls.

Chipmunks!

Last Saturday was warm and sunny. On the hill behind our house, two chipmunks were rustling through the leaves chasing each other all day. The mister observed them on several occasions and captured a good shot of a quickly moving creature. Neither chipmunk has been seen since-- whether weather or cats we do not know.