Introducing…This Spring’s New Arrivals

I went back to writing a year ago, inspired by the emergence of a round of baby chipmunks in the garden. This year, especially since adding a few more plantings and features and getting the garden certified as a wildlife habitat, it's been a regular nursery. I thought it was a good time for a … Continue reading Introducing…This Spring’s New Arrivals →

Lunch Break, with Chipmunks

While I was eating lunch yesterday, I noticed one of the chipmunks digging a shallow hole in the grout between two of our patio stones. Or, at least, I thought she was digging...really, she turned out to be uncovering a food cache she must have made some time before. (A side note about chipmunk holes: … Continue reading Lunch Break, with Chipmunks →

Scenes from a Burrow Building

Our resident mother chipmunk looks like she's getting ready for a second litter soon. From what we can tell, she's eating about the same amount, but looking a little rounder, and more significantly, she's getting her little paws dirty and undertaking a big renovation on her burrow. She has filled in the previous main entrance … Continue reading Scenes from a Burrow Building →

Desire Paths

And so, the grass over here is often longer (and greener!) than it might be elsewhere in the neighborhood. And recently, I’ve noticed that this has a new practical consequence: in a lawn a bit in need of mowing, the garden wildlife’s desire paths become easier to spot.

A Little Death

Today I held one of the chipmunks while it took its last breath, cradled in my hands, my fingertip against its slowing heartbeat. Having so much life in the garden means there's also at least a little death. Sometimes that looks like a shattered eggshell, or a mess of feathers, or a ransacked burrow...and sometimes … Continue reading A Little Death →

In which one of the new chipmunks chooses a new home…

Now introduced to the world, weaned, and savvy(ish) about some good feeding and hiding spots, the new chipmunks have been choosing their new homes this week. Some may have ventured out of the garden, but it looks like a couple have chosen to make their burrows within its borders. The easiest of them to spot … Continue reading In which one of the new chipmunks chooses a new home… →

Hello, world!

Last week, six baby chipmunks emerged from the burrow where they had, unbeknownst to us, been born and growing for the previous month. Their mother, chunky and slightly beleaguered-looking, leapt out first and headed straight for the seeds and nuts that were waiting at one of the nearby bird feeders. The babies hung back. A … Continue reading Hello, world! →