Sharing a story: Chipmunk Rescue #2

Less than three weeks after our first adventure…

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July 16, 2004

Good morning - Last night, [Hubby] and I had a repeat performance for a chipmunk in the furnace air-intake pipe. I will let you know that as of 9:45pm last night, the ladder is no longer leaning against the house and the roof pipe has been inspected for future preventative modifications.

Our tale (or is that tail?) is a little different this time. Although I had been almost asleep for about a half hour, this story begins the same as the last one, with my ears picking up on an unusual sound that didn't change when the fan was turned down to a lower speed. [Hubby] was relaxing with a game on the computer, so I went out and reported that we had livestock in the furnace again. Fortunately, we had not yet replaced the torn gasket on the furnace housing so it was quite easy to remove. With gloves on, [Hubby] reached in to gently grab the critter - yes it was a chipmunk. We noticed this as it launched itself up [Hubby]'s arm and across his elbow to dart like a bullet down the hallway. There was no option to put it in the bucket (which would not have held it without a lid of some sort, anyway), this was an adult chipmunk... and boy can they JUMP! And the chase was on!

Our first reprieve came when the chipmunk went dashing down the hall and took a left instead of a right. It cornered itself in a cardboard box that was lying on its side (for recycling). If it had gone right, it would have gone towards the kitchen and the front of the house. Now cornered, [Hubby] (who was laughing the whole time) tried to catch it. 'Zippy' was our new name for this little creature. It eluded us and I knew something was up when I heard [Hubby] say: "Oh, no you don't!" It had detoured into [Daughter]'s room and nearly went under the bed. [Hubby] got there first. Picture, if you will, a wad of striped brown fur squirming out of [Hubby]'s hands and bolting for the other end of the hall - our bedroom. 'Zippy' cleared several obstacles including a pile of laundry, but maintained a straight line. This was our second reprieve. It hid behind a board that was leaning against a wall and stopped. When it darted out again, [Hubby] got it cornered between the tub and the vanity cabinet. [Hubby] stood up with a huge grin on his face: "Isn't he cute!" As his hands were full, I lead the way to the front door.

Another successful 'catch and release'. At that point we put on shoes and did the roof inspection and ladder removal to disarm our too-effective chipmunk trap. Returning to reassemble the furnace housing, we found out (bummer) that our 10 day stay in Missoula had resulted in a casualty; another adult chipmunk... mostly dry, but still stinky (yuck) had fallen into our chipmunk trap. After everything was cleaned up (and disinfected), reassembled and quiet again, we were both very grateful that this all happened before it got really dark outside.

Happy Friday!

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Well, my time is up. Until we meet again...
Godspeed & God bless