December 22 and 29, 2005 - Chipmunk Christmas, part 2December 22 and 29, 2005 • The News - Review • 9A
Chipmunk Christmas, part 2
IF YOU REMEMBER, last week a fam-
ily of chipmunks thought they would
have a pretty poor Christmas because
their precious pine barrens where
they lived was slowly turning into a
housing development and because of
that the chipmunks were losing their
food supply. In desperation, they found
a plentiful supply of sunflower seeds in
one of the new houses nearby.
What had happened was that the
people in the
big new house
Focus loved to feed the
ON birds and so they
had bought a big
NATURE 50 -pound bag of
sunflower seeds
by papa that they kept
StOtItellbUrgfl m the garage.
Thanks to Little
Chip, who took
the chance of being caught by a hawk
or wild cat or maybe being hit by a car,
no matter what, he found this good
supply of sunflower seeds. (Now back
to our story...)
Little Chip was anxious to tell the
family the good news. He ran as fast as
he could, not taking the usual precau-
tions of looking around to make sure
none of those bad guys were around.
Halfway to the little chipmunk's bur-
row, a big red -tailed hawk swung down,
ready to grab Little Chip, but his father
had told him that if he ever got into a
tight situation like that, he should roll
off to one side and maybe the hawk
would miss him. He did just that, and
luck was on his side. He only lost a few
of his sunflower seeds, but that didn't
matter.
Once back home, Little Chip dove
into the entrance of the burrow and
disappeared below. Everyone flocked
around him, asking all sorts of ques-
tions, and, of course, everyone had to
sample his new find of winter food.
Once more the father, Top Chip, called
the fancily together to work out plans.
They decided right then and there that
they had better all follow Little Chip
back to his treasure house, and what
a treasure that bag of sunflower seeds
was! Back and forth they went, each
filling their pouches with sunflower
seeds. Little did they know what was
ahead for them, as their presence was
soon found out and disaster was about
to fall on them.
The trouble came when the man
from the big, white house discov-
ered his sunflower seeds was going
down much faster than it should.
He scratched his head and thought:
"But how could this be? I've got a
new house and garage, all the doors
and windows are locked tight. "Then
his eye caught the sunlight coming
through the hole in the door that Little
Chip had made.
This made the man in the big house
very mad. "I'll get whoever it is that is
taking our birdseed. I'll buy a dozen
traps and set them around in the ga-
rage. That will get them." But the little
girl in the big house said, "Please, Dad-
dy, don't kill them. It's not their fault.
We took their food away from them
when the trees were cut down and the
houses were built Can't we catch them
in five traps? "The father agreed and
set four live traps with sunflower seeds
and peanut butter.
7
�h
Of course, when the chipmunks
made a return trip to the garage, they
didn't know anything about traps and
what might happen if they were caught
in one, so they proceeded as if nothing
had happened. They wondered why
the bag of sunflower seeds was now in
a big tin garbage pail, but that didn't
matter, for there were all those wire
cages with plenty of seeds sprinkled
in them. There was even a new and
wonderful smell inside the cages, or
whatever you call them. It seemed too
good to be true. Each member of the
chipmunk family found one of the wire
cages and proceeded to lick that won-
derful brown stuff called peanut butter
that was smeared on a
metal plate inside.
Then, one by one,
there was a click, snap
and bangl The trap
doors closed and none
of the family could get
out. This was terrible
— what was going to
happen to them now?
Top Chip, the father,
had the biggest and sharpest teeth, but
he couldn't do anything to the wire
cage he was caught in.
All night the chipmunks gnawed
away, trying to get out, but no one suc-
ceeded. "Well, I'm not going to waste
all that good food we have here." So
Little Chip started to lick the last bit of
peanut butter clean, then the sunflower
seeds followed shortly after.
About 7 o'clock in the morning, they
heard footsteps conning towards them
from inside the house. Soon the door
opened and a little girl came into the
garage. She couldn't believe her eyes.
In each of the cages was a chipmunk.
"Oh, how neat! "she cried. She ran
back into the house and called: "Come
quickly! Come and see what we caught
in the five traps!" Soon the whole fam-
ily was gathered around the traps.
"Look at this one. It seems to have a
sore nose, probably because he, or is it a
she, tried to gnaw out of the cage. And
look at its teeth; they're all worn down."
The little girl liked Little Chip the best
of all and thought he was the cutest.
After it all quieted down, someone
popped the question, "What are we
going to do with them ?"
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do
with them," answered the father. "I'll
take them down to the little patch of
woods down the street"
"No! No!" cried the little girl.
"There's no food down there for them.
They'd starve to death there, and be-
sides it's getting near Christmas and
we'll just have to find a better place."
Then the older brother remembered
that he had taken a summer ecology
course at a place called the Quogue
Wildlife Refuge and
they had all sorts of
animals there. Maybe
they would take the
chipmunks. That
sounded good to all of
r them, so the four traps
g with the chipmunks in
them were put in the
back of the pickup and
everyone climbed in
and headed for the refuge, about 10
miles away.
When they arrived at the refuge,
they were horrified to find that one of
the traps had turned over and opened
when the truck hit that big bump a
ways back. It was Big Chip, the old-
est son, who got out. "Where could he
be ?" Everyone searched high and low,
under the seat, in the glove compart-
ment. It was no use. They couldn't find
him anywhere. About that time, a man
from the refuge in a spic -and -span
uniform came over to the pickup and
asked if there was something he could
do for them. The man from the new
house explained what had happened
and hoped they might leave the chip-
munks there.
"Of course we'll take them. We have
lots of animals and birds here and see-
ing it is Christmas tomorrow, we'll give
them all an extra scoop of food." So
the chipmunk family spent a wonder-
ful Christmas with a lot of new friends,
The chipmunks went
off Into the woods,
looking for a place
to start a new home
free of houses, road
and people.
0`4
A wide variety of
birds and animals
live in and around
the Quogue Wildlife
Refuge at the head
of Quantuck Creek
In Quogue. The chip-
munk family that we
knew made friends
with the young rac-
coons that lived near
them. They were
lots of fun but they
seemed to always
get Into a lot of
trouble.
News Review photo
by Barbara St— t—b.,gh
�
t111�'
®�
especially the family of young raccoons
that had had the misfortune of losing
their mother and were brought into the
refuge. Everyone ate as much as they
wanted to, and you know what'?
They never did know what hap-
pened to the chipmunk that got out
of the cage on the way to the refuge,
but deep down in her heart, Mom
Chip had a secret she never shared
with anyone. She remembered that
someplace along the way when they
had stopped for a red light, her son Big
Chip jumped off the truck onto a limb
of a tree and threw a kiss as he waved
"Goodbye" to his mother, knowing all
too well he'd find a friend somewhere
in the woods.
After their big Christmas feast, the
chipmunk family left their temporary
dwelling at the refuge.They were once
again on their own. They allKvent off
together into the woods, looking for
a place to start a new home, one that
would be forever free of houses, roads
and people.
It was a beautiful day to be back in
the woods. Little Chip had just found
a nice red bearberry when he heard a
familiar sound. Everyone else heard it,
too.They looked and called and called
and looked, and to their amazement
and joy, out stepped Big Chip, who had
been missing from the family ever since
he jumped out of the truck on the way
to the refuge. He was proud as punch,
a bit older and a bit wiser, and who do
you think was with him? A pretty Little
Chippie with a twinkle in her eye.
So our visit with the chipmunk fam-
ily started in the pine barrens in the
family's cozy underground home and
ended at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge,
where they were all united once again.
Everyone had to agree that it was the
best Christmas they ever had. For us,
we'll never forget that chipmunk fam-
ily that lost everything yet never gave
up. Their reward was that they found
a new home in the woods that would
never be developed with houses, black-
top roads and driveways in the Quogue
Wildlife Refuge.
The Suffolk Times • December 22 and 29, 2005
art
i Chris tmas,
IF You REMEMBER, last week a fam-
ily of chipmunks thought they would
have a pretty poor Christmas because
their precious pine barrens where they
lived was slowly turning into a housing
development and because of that the
chipmunks were losing their food sup-
ply. In desperation, they found a plenti-
ful supply of sunflower seeds in one of
the new houses nearby..
What had happened was that the
people in the
big new house
FOCUS loved to feed the
O N birds and so they
had bought a big
NATURE 50 -pound bag of
sunflower seeds
by Paul that they kept
Stoutenburgh m the garage.
Thanks to Little
Chin. who took
the chance of being caught by a hawk
or wild cat or maybe being hit by a car,
no matter what, he found this good
supply of sunflower seeds. (Now back
to our story ...)
Little Chip was anxious to tell the
family the good news. He ran as fast as
he could, not taking the usual precau-
tions of looking around to make sure
none of those bad guys were around.
Half way to the little chipmunk's bur-
row, a big red - tailed hawk swung down,
ready to grab Little Chip, but his father
had told him that if he ever got into a
tight situation like that, he should roll ofl
to one side and maybe the hawk would
miss him. He did just that, and luck was
on his side. He only lost a ew o s sun-
flower seeds, but that didn't matter.
Once back home, Little Chip dove
into the entrance of the burrow and _
A wide variety of
birds and animals
live in and around
the Quogue Wildlife
Refuge at the head
of Quantuck Creek
in Quogue. The chip-
munk family that we
knew made friends
with the young rac-
coons that lived near
them. They were
lots of fun but they
seemed to always
get into a lot of
trouble.
Suffolk Times photo
by Barbara Stoutenburgh
We ih pmunks
event off into the
Noods, looking for
a place to start a
new home, free of
houses, roads and
neoole.
around him, asking all sorts of question
and, of course, everyone had to sample
his new find of winter food. Once more
ily together to work out plans. They
decided right then and there that they
had better all follow Little Chip back to
his treasure house, and what a treasure
that bag of sunflower seeds was! Back
and forth they went, each filling their
pouches with sunflower seeds. Little did
they know what was ahead for them, as
their presence was soon found out and
disaster was about to fall on them.
The trouble came when the man
from the big, white house discovered his
sunflower seeds was going down much
taster an it should. He scratched his
head and thought: "But how could this
be? I've got a new house and garage,
all the doors and windows are locked
tight." Then his eye caught the sunlight
coming through the hole in the door
that Little Chip had made.
This made the man in the big house
very mad. "I'll get whoever it is that is
taking our birdseed. I'll buy a dozen
traps and set them around in the garage.
That will get them." But the little girl
in the big house said, "Please, Daddy,
don't kill them. It's not their fault. We
took their food away from them when
the trees were cut down and the houses
were built. Can't we catch them in live
traps?" The father agreed and set four
live traps with sunflower seeds and pea-
nut butter.
Of course, when the chipmunks made
a return trip to the garage, they didn't
know anything about traps and what
might happen if they were caught in
one, so they proceeded as if nothing
had happened. They wondered why the
bag of sunflower seeds was now in a
big tin garbage pail, but that didn't mat-
ter, for there were all those wire cages
with plenty of seeds sprinkled in them.
There was even a new and
wonderful smell inside the
cages, or whatever you
them. It seemed too good
to be true. Each member
of the chipmunk fam-
ily found one of the wire
cages and proceeded to
lick that wonderful brown
stuff called peanut butter
that was smeared on a
metal plate inside.
Then, one by one, there was a click,
snap and bang! The trap doors closed
and none of the family could get out.
This was terrible — what was going to
happen to them now? Top Chip, the fa-
ther, had the biggest and sharpest teeth,
but he couldn't do anything to the wire
cage he was caught in.
All night the chipmunks gnawed
away, trying to get out, but no one suc-
ceeded. "Well, I'm not going to waste
all that good food we have here." So .
Little Chip started to lick the last bit of
peanut butter clean, then the sunflower
seeds followed shortly after.
About 7 o'clock in the morning, they
heard footsteps coming towards them
from inside the house. Soon the door
opened and a little girl came into the
garage. She couldn't believe her eyes. In
each of the cages was a chipmunk. "Oh,
how neat!" she cried. She ran back into
the house and called: "Come quickly!
Come and see what we caught in the
live traps!" Soon the whole family was
gathered around the traps.
"Look at this one. It seems to have a
sore nose, probably because he, or is it a
she, tried to gnaw out of the cage. And
look at its teeth; they're all worn down.
The little girl liked Little Chip the best
of all and thought he was the cutest.
After it all quieted down, someone
popped the question, "What are we go-
ing to do with them ?"
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do
with them," answered the father. "I'll
take them down to the little patch of
woods down the street."
"No! No!" cried the little girl.
"There's no food down there for them.
They'd starve to death there, and be-
sides it's getting near Christmas and
we'll just have to find a better place."
Then the older brother remembered
that he had taken a summer ecology
course at a place called the Quogue .
Wildlife Refuge and they had all sorts
of animals there. Maybe they would
take the chipmunks. That sounded
good to all of them, so the four traps
with the chipmunks in them were put
in the back of the pickup and everyone
climbed in and headed for the refuge,
about 10 miles away.
When they arrived at the refuge, they
were horrified to find that one of the
traps had turned over and opened when
the truck hit that big bump a ways back.
It was Big Chip, the oldest son, who got
out. "Where could he be ?" Everyone
searched high and low, under the seat,
in the glove compartment. It was no
use. They couldn't find him anywhere.
About that time, a man from the refuge
in a spic- and -span uniform came over
to the pickup and asked if there was
something he could do for them. The
man from the new house explained
what had happened and hoped they
might leave the chipmunks there.
"Of course we'll take them. We have
lots of animals and birds here and see -
ing it is Christmas tomorrow, we'll give
them all an extra scoop of food." So
the chipmunk family spent a wonder-
ful Christmas with a lot of new friends,
specially the family of young raccoons
that had had the misfor-
tune of losing their moth-
er and were brought into
the refuge. Everyone ate
as much as they wanted to
and you know what?
They never did know
what happened to the
chipmunk that got out of
the .cage on the way to the
refuge, but deep down in
her heart, Mom Chip had a secret she
never shared with anyone. She remem-
bered that someplace along the way
when they had stopped for a red light,
her son Big Chip jumped off the truck
onto a limb of a tree and threw a kiss
as he waved "Goodbye" to his mother,
knowing all too well he'd find a friend
somewhere in the woods.
After their big Christmas feast, the
chipmunk family left their temporary
dwelling at the refuge. They were once
again on their own. They all went off
together into the woods, looking for
a place to start a new home, one that
would be forever free of houses, roads
and people.
It was a beautiful day to be back in
the woods. Little Chip had just found
a nice red bearberry when he heard a
familiar sound. Everyone else heard it,
too. They looked and called and called
and looked, and to their amazement
and joy, out stepped Big Chip, who had
been missing from the family ever since
he jumped out of the truck on the way
to the refuge. He was proud as punch,
a bit older and a bit wiser, and who do
you think was with him? A pretty Little
Chippie with a twinkle in her eye.
So our visit with the chipmunk fam-
ily started in the pine barrens in the
family's cozy underground home and
ended at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge,
where they were all-united once again.
Everyone had to agree that it was the
best Christmas they ever had. For us,
we'll never forget that chipmunk family
that lost everything yet never gave up.
Their reward was that they found a new
home in the woods that would never be
developed with houses, black -top roads
and driveways in the Quogue Wildlife