Sep 06 2026
Feeding Another Chipmunk
For five years Judy and I fed a chipmunk that we casually called Chippy. He kept showing up on our patio, so we put out a few nuts for him. Over time, as we kept feeding him, he became comfortable around us. Eventually, he let us pet him. He became so comfortable that he’d jump up on my lap, demanding attention whenever I was sitting on the patio reading or writing. We grew to love the little guy.
Last year Chippy’s health began to fail. As he grew weaker, another chipmunk tried to gain access to the nuts. They didn’t share. Chippy got the better of the intruder at first, but he weakened. Then the intruder kept Chippy from getting to the nuts. At that point, I intervened, using a squirt gun to discourage the intruder whenever he popped his head over the patio footwall. I called the intruder Rogue Chippy and kept him away from Chippy’s food supply whenever I could.
During the winter, I saw Chippy one last time. I put seeds on the snow near his burrow and he collected them. A week or so later, I put out seeds again, but they just rotted there. Chippy didn’t show up last spring. We knew what that meant. Rest in peace, Chippy.
Early this summer, Rogue Chippy showed up. I knew it was him by the way he popped his head over the patio footwall in the exact same manner, in the exact same place where I’d put out food for Chippy the previous year. When I told Judy, she said: “We aren’t going to feed any more chipmunks.” I agreed, mostly because I didn’t like the way Rogue Chippy had treated Chippy the following year. Yes, I held a grudge against a chipmunk.
Rogue Chippy kept coming around. A couple weeks ago, I asked Judy: “Why aren’t we feeding chipmunks anymore?” We both pondered that for a while, then started putting out seeds for him. Judy thought he needed a better name, so she asked folks on Facebook to suggest one. We settled on Walnut.
So now we’re putting seeds out for Walnut. He stuffs his cheeks full of them whenever he can. That said, he’s still very skittish around us. No petting Walnut the way we used to pet Chippy. He’s a wild animal, after all.
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