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Where We Left Off:
In our previous case file, Gus continued to followed his ongoing mission of capturing the mice.
The Critters Under the Stairs:
I spared our Instagram followers the images, but told them the story about Gus breaking his streak of good behavior. On October 18, 2022 we had quite the adventure! It started off as peacefully as they normally do (on average). We exit the house; Gus waits for me on the path; I put out critter snacks in the first location; then we move on. One of the other locations we like to visit is Gnome Grove. I leave snacks there too even when the gnomes and fairies migrate for the winter season. From there, we usually make our way to the big rock for another snack station.
Since Gus murdered Sgt. Burrows years ago, I have tried to get to the chipmunks he captures as fast as possible. The issue is that he tends to make his move and catch them when I’m not right next to him. This has happened a number of times this year.
Gus pretended like he was going to watch birds. He seemed to be staying put. I decided to walk across the expanse to the trail camera at Fort Winchester. It paid off in one sense that there were some images to download. In another sense, it meant I was taking longer in getting over to meet up with Gus and watch him. I saw him walk as if he was heading into the junkyard. He did, however, he kept going. He snuck through the junkyard and went trespassing at the neighbors’ yard! When I finally found him, his tail was huge. They have chickens now and I think he might have been wondering how to get to them.
I didn’t make him go inside. We walked over to Oliver’s patio which has a nice view of Gnome Grove and the large maple tree so if you can ignore the horrendously loud traffic, it’s a nice spot for critter watching. I went inside for one minute to refill my can with more peanuts. Gus was absolutely certain a chipmunk was behind one of the sets of cement stairs. He was staring and not running anywhere he shouldn’t, so it seemed safe for me to go inside for that one minute. When I got back outside, Gus had already caught and killed a chipmunk friend!
Why did he come out of the hiding place behind the stairs? He had to know Gus was right there! That’s why he was hiding in the first place!
This was one of the only times Gus did not take his treasure to the back door. He knew I wanted it because I had a hold of his leash by that point. He struggled to pull away from me. I thought his victim was Pipi Lansbury. I inched closer and had to force Gus to release the chipmunk. I remained hopeful since they usually are traumatized but alive. I rubbed its chest and kept petting him. There were no signs of life, but I didn’t want to give up too soon.
I never scold Gus for accidentally killing anyone. He needs to keep up his skills for when he’s supposed to assassinate volepyres and toxic mice. I walked to Gnome Grove and placed the chipmunk’s body near the fairies and crow statue under a Japanese maple tree. I thought it would be a suitable spot for an owl to find it. It took three nights until someone did and took him away.
I called Gus over to chat with the gnomes since they were still on duty outside. Gnomez Addams recognized the chipmunk as Charlie “Beeps” who used to live in the Fairy Garden before all the resident fae were relocated to Gnome Grove. Beeps is survived by his twin brother Frankie “Peeps.” They took over some of the Chipmunk Mafia operations after Joey Bag O’Peanuts went into Witness Protection.
We stayed out until the elder humans came home. Gus ran inside with them eager for me to remove his harness. He always makes a poo when he gets home from adventures. Well, he again decided to poop in front of the litterbox. I’m keeping a dairy of these poop incidents and so far the only thing in common is that he does it after being outside (most of the time – he has also done it early in the morning). I don’t know what his problem. There are three litterboxes and one of them is a double-wide storage container.
Case Findings:
Gus was opportunistic in capturing another beloved critter friend, Charlie “Beeps” from the greater Gnome Grove area. Beeps posed no threat to the property. He had been a large, bulky fellow possibly putting on some late fall weight to tide him over during the upcoming hibernation. Unfortunately, he did not survive the attack in the patio.
Case Status: Closed
