Wild Kingdom

It’s times like this that I feel like the pioneers who settled this great country. Either that, or Marlin Perkins. We had a chipmunk that sneaked into our mudroom, and it was up to me to be a real man and capture him. The beast had somehow evaded capture from or cats (though they clearly sensed his presence) and I couldn’t locate my shotgun, so I decided to trap him, instead. We have one of those Have a Heart traps that we use to get mice, but I figured that it was big enough for chipmunks. Don’t over think it, right? Just do it.

We first noticed the thing because it was invading, of all things, our fruit fly traps. We figured it was a mouse, and we caught quick glimpses of it darting away before we could positively ID it. Interestingly, it had a preference for cantaloupe. I put rinds in the fruit fly trap because they seem to love melons, and I started noticing rinds outside of the trap with little bites taken out of it. Again, I thought it was a mouse, but I should have figured it was something bigger because it had managed to take the lid off the trap and pull the fruit out.

I initially set the trap up with peanut butter and pecans, which worked for mice in the past, but this guy was having none of it. I had to change tactics and put some cantaloupe on the peanut butter. I left it over night, and sure enough, the next morning, we had a chipmunk. I sure felt like a big-game hunter. All I need is a khaki vest and matching hat. The guy was squeaking miserably as I led him the yard, and when I released him, be took off like a bolt of lightning. Another successful hunting excursion in the wild backwoods of Vermont.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.