The Adventures of Friendly the Chipmunk
The photo adventures of a lovable eastern chipmunk named Friendly
We first saw the lovable little chipmunk in the summer of 2002. She would hang around the back yard eating under the bird feeder and hide under the rocks at the end of the yard whenever we ventured near. This year my wife decided to see if she could train her to take peanuts from her hand. A week later she was eating from her hand. Two weeks later she was a regular at our back door. She is so darn friendly I figured that should be her name.
In less than 2 years we lost all 3 of our cats. One to cancer [14 years old] and the others to problems due to their age. One was 17 the other 19. So I guess Friendly came along at the right time. I followed her one day and discovered she lives in the park on the other side of my neighbour's house. That explains why she's back so fast looking for more peanuts. I sometimes think she should be called Greedy because she's always looking for peanuts. She knows we're a soft touch and it makes you wonder who trained who.
A photo of Friendly the chipmunk taken by my wife was picked as photo of the week by the Ottawa Citizen in their 2003 Driving Summer Photo Contest.
We bought Friendly a newspaper to show her her photo. She glanced at it for a few seconds and off she went, maybe to tell the other chipmunks about her photo, but more likely because she's incapable of sitting still longer than 10 seconds. I'm happy to report that Friendly is still the same lovable little chipmunk. She hasn't let any of this go to her head.
Friendly disappeared for a week or so and we feared the worst because of all the cats around the neighbourhood. But out of the blue she showed up one day at the back door looking for her peanuts. She disappeared again about 2 weeks later and that's the last we've seen of her. We put out peanuts for a while in the rocks where the squirrels can't get at them but don't know if Friendly was getting them or if the new chipmunk we named Rocky got them. Just before the cold weather came my wife got Rocky to take a peanut from her hand for the first time. We will have to wait for spring to see if any of the little darlings survived.
Updates: 2004
Well it looks like Friendly is finally back. We weren't sure if it was her at first because she was very nervous and would take only one peanut and run off. Now she's back to her old self again, filling her face before she leaves. Rocky was hanging around the rocks first this year, but since Friendly showed up Rocky has disappeared. I guess Friendly is not so friendly when it comes to other chipmunks.
This year Friendly developed a taste for Farm Boy whole wheat bread and would stop under the bird feeder and munch bread even if there are peanuts on the deck. The bread craze didn't last very long however and Friendly now ignores the bread.
June10, 2004
Friendly showed up today and it turns out that she is a mother. She had two young ones with her that she left in the safety of the rocks while she collected peanuts from my wife and me.
When she would return to the rocks, one baby would pop out and the two of them would sniff noses. Must be how they tell who's who. Maybe that's why she was acting a little differently this spring.
June 21, 2004
Two more cats have moved into the neighbourhood. I don't know how the chipmunks manage to survive with all these cats running loose. We're always chasing cats away from the rocks and bird feeder. The babies have really grown in the last few weeks and are nearly the same size as their mother. Her attitude towards them has changed a lot however. They are now on their own and must get their own food. If they are around when we feed her, she will run them off.
October 10, 2004
It's been nearly a month since I last saw Friendly. I don't know if something happened to her or if she decided to stay away because of all the cats hanging around. At this time of the year she is usually wearing herself out running back and forth with peanuts. I check the park once in a while but have yet to see her. One of the babies is still around but he won't leave the rocks. He started to get a little bit friendly but now is too nervous to come near.
April 16, 2005
Well spring is here but Friendly hasn't been around. I like to think that she moved on to a safer place. I no longer put food out in the yard for the chipmunks because between the stray cats roaming around, and our new cat, it's just not a good idea to encourage them to come around. I now leave food only in the park, around where they usually hang out.
June 23, 2005
Friendly, much to our surprise and joy, is still alive and has at least one
baby. She showed up at the house recently but between our new cat and all the other cats around we decided not to feed her at the house any more. I felt like a real meanie but it's safer for her. I now go over to the park and feed her every day and spread peanuts around the area so she will stay closer to her home and hopefully stay safe. I have also stopped taking photos of her because I don't want a lot of people to know where she lives. We live in a nice area but have a few morons that like to cause trouble in our parks. Not everybody thinks chipmunks are cute little creatures. She has never changed her location and has been living in the same spot since at least 2002.
February, 2006
It's now winter time in Canada, so if Friendly is still around she will be asleep until spring. Hopefully, I will have some good news to tell you then.
June22, 2006
It looks like Friendly is no longer with us any more. I haven't seen her this year and her hole has been taken over by another chipmunk. I'll miss her. I got quite fond of her over the years.
The photo adventures of a lovable eastern chipmunk named Friendly
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