Our first POW!

Yes, we got our first POW of the season, a plump one too.  Since we declared war on the chipmunks for invading our garden and robbing our seedlings and vines we have trapped at least 20 or so of them each year.  We abide by the Geneva Critters Convention; we don’t torture or withhold food from our prisoners.  If we cannot deport them right away, ripe peach, pear or plum is always provided.  We also make sure that they are in a comfortable jail cell (Have A Heart trap) and have warmth at night.

Our friends suggested we paint or number them with bright orange paint before deporting them so when we encounter them again in the woods or at the train station we know that they were ex-POW’s.  We decided against it.  We don’t want them to be an easy target for the hawks patrolling above.  The humiliating things we’ve been doing to them are taking their mug shots and videotaping them when they’re in panic mode in their holding cell.  It’s not like we can tell the difference between one chipmunk from another but we can see that each one has a different character.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this little creature. I used to have a pair of chipmunks as pets when I was a child.  They slept with me in my bedroom.  But when the locals uproot my seedlings, dig up my flower plots and pots, chew off vines at the base, and dig orchid pots, chewing off young orchid buds; our alliance has come to an end.  We declared war on them.  If they had behaved like their bigger relative, the squirrels, we would have co-existed together.  I still think they’re cute when I see them in other people gardens, especially those little balloon cheeks and straight up little flag of a tail.