Chippy is the unimaginative name we gave a small friend who used to live in a section of downspout that rested behind the Rhodies at the front of the house. He was accustomed to my gardening noises and became quite happy to accept black sunflower seeds offered at his front door.
We sort of took Chippy for granted (witness the generic name we gave him) until we started to realize that he was not around any more. Then we talked a lot about him, and wished him back. Meanwhile, feral cats have come and gone, there have been tales of coyotes in our woods, and there is, of course, the rat snake we know lives around here somewhere.
Would a rat snake come near the house? Yes. I know because I startled a very young one by the water faucet last fall. He was about the size of a #2 pencil, black, of course, and very fast. Gave me the willies! It was a long time before I used that faucet without first shaking the clematis vine next to it to scare away any little slithering folk.
Well, we were talking about Chippy as recently as two weeks ago, and lo, that little ground squirrel scurried out from under leaves just a few days ago. I broadcast the good news that Chippy was back, and we were delighted to look down on the back step from upstairs yesterday and see him investigating the territory -- over and under and around the tools and stuff. We puzzled about whether this was a close or distant relative to our original chipmunk-- the color is not quite the same, nor the girth.
I will put some sunflower seeds in some hidden spot today. I had stopped feeding the birds for the summer, but, well, Chippy is different. I turned over a piece of gutter out behind the shed, and also a section of ducting that is waiting out there for some possible purpose. Maybe we will have a new buddy in the garden now-- and maybe we will call him an unimaginative name! Or not.
Green Thumb
