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Where We Left Off:
Two dogs infiltrated the Winchester-Nabu estate and were thwarted from taking off on their own adventure without their owners’ permission.
Whispering City:
This year, most of our chipmunk interactions have been at Cheeks Moretti’s rock fortress. Two younger chipmunks have been visiting from next door. We’ve also had some run-ins with two other chipmunks from the junkyard. It appears to be another mating season for them so the chipmunks are coming out more.
Pietro Maximunk is one of the visitors coming from the yard next door. He had to make a new access hole near the utility pole. Benny Squint pops up now and then and runs next door to the part of their parking area where there are crawl spaces under the basketball court. These two seem to get along well enough, but Pietro is the one who usually gets his way.
Oliver Winchester has been spending more time at a higher vantage point—on the balcony. He’s often sleeping, but insists that I tell you he does actually stick to his surveillance duties. From up there, he can see three of the four borders. The birds will often swoop by for a quick chat with him when they take a pit stop in the tall hedge. His vision is excellent so he can also see most of the rock fortress and the routes taken by Pietro and Benny. It’s like having a helicopter above a chase.
Gus has completely changed his routine this summer. He’s been using one spot for primary surveillance. It’s at the outside corner of the rock fortress. This is the corner where I’ve placed a flat red brick and put out the critter snacks and peanut payments. His secondary spot is underneath the mobile command unit which provides ample shade (for him, not me) and is directly in the path of the junkyard chipmunks traveling for their snacks.
Gus has jumped at both Benny and Pietro at the corner snack bar. They approach with caution and if they spot me, they know the beast is close. They’ve managed to evade him so far this year. I wish the same were true for Chipcent Donofrio and Wanda Maximunk up by the mobile command unit, hangar, and junkyard.
The Grumpy Old Man has been doing a bit of organizing inside part of the hangar. Of course, the area I had once organized and made more space in is back to being difficult to navigate. He needed to build shelves. He’s been buying a lot of big stuff because there was a mountain of cardboard boxes that were flattened but not cut up for recycling. After he built the shelves, I took on the job of making three piles of cardboard. I left the biggest boxes for him. It’s quite a shame no one needed to build a fort, because they would have had great boxes. Gus was the one who wanted to work inside that day, but I had no idea what he was really doing. He mouse hunts thoroughly in there. It’s such a large building that each shift, he usually gets to one or two sections.
I thought Gus was inspecting The Grumpy Old Man’s handiwork with the shelves. He was back behind all kinds of stuff. I could hear him once in a while, but couldn’t see what he was doing. I was getting awfully sore and gross with sweat. I heard a kerfuffle behind the stuff in front of the new shelves. My instinct told me to get the camera ready.
Way back there, Gus came out just enough for me to see that he had something in his jaws. I thought it was a fat mouse (they get fat here because they live so well). The critter got away and cartoon music started playing in my head. I expected Gus to come out into the open area with a “prize” for me. That did not happen. The video shows a chipmunk slinking along the floor to a place of safety. Gus had no idea where it went. This was probably Wanda. Also in the video are a couple shots of Pietro Maximunk at his new “door” to his burrow. It’s just barely across the border where Gus isn’t supposed to go.
That day I dragged my exhausted body home. Gus was proud of himself and eager for rewards and praise. I forced myself to shower before collapsing into bed where I continued my Criminal Minds repeat watch.
Flash forward to June 27th. Gus was underneath the mobile command unit. I was, of course, baking in the sun even with my parasol. Gus had recently taken off into the woods where he’s no longer allowed, so I worry when I let go of his leash and let him patrol his usual spots. The temptation to cross the border is strong. I attempted to ease my anxiety by feeding the blue jays who follow me around. Both of us saw a blur of motion swoosh through the grass to the rocks under the MCU. Gus bolted. I couldn’t see what was happening.
The noise settled down. Gus came out of the shadows without a victim. Ok. Good. That meant that the chipmunk made its way behind the barn doors, across the rocks and weeds, all the way to the next snack station at the big rock.
It wasn’t long before the scene rewound and repeated. We saw a critter. Gus leaped into action. I could only hear the commotion of claws scraping through leaves and rocks. This time, he trotted with pride right behind me before I could reach down (not smash my camera on the ground) and snatch the end of his leash. Instead, he began his victory parade towards home.
When we got closer, I was able to stretch out my stride and plant my foot on his leash. He was not happy. I could Gus growls even though they were more subdued than usual. I was able to get a decent look at his victim this time. It was a larger chipmunk. Chipcent Donofrio—the Kingpin who now leads the Chipmunk Mafia after Cheeks Moretti retired. Whether it was the chipmunk claws or being restrained, I don’t know, but Gus released his victim. He normally would do that anyway in order to have some time “interrogating” his critter of interest. Before I could even exhale, Chipcent corrected his posture and took off along the hedges until he reached the firewood stacks.
Gus and I followed him. I knew there was no way Gus would be able to pull Chipcent out of there. I reached into my repurposed coffee can and took a handful peanuts which I tossed under the logs. We call this offering of contrition apology peanuts.
“Did you get any useful information from Chipcent or Wanda while you terrorized them?” I asked Gus.
As the cats and I made ourselves comfortable on the balcony next to the fountain, Gus decided to share his intel. “Oliver, could you get your head out of the railing and come over here while we’re having a meeting?” Ollie did as Gus requested and laid down next to the dead cat grass. “Let me think. Oh, yeah. It went like this…”
Gus told us that the chipmunks are worried about their homes. New landowners arriving haven’t quelled their anxiety any more than it was two years ago.
“It’s not just the chips either. All the animals and even the cryptids are scared to death. Not much habitat left,” Gus said.
Oliver said, “For now, that plan for a dump isn’t happening. There hasn’t been any news on it since the last public forum.”
“The chipmunks are gearing up for a war,” Gus said. “The Blue Jay Gang isn’t on their side because more humans could mean more food for them. They don’t feel threatened like the rabbits, bears, deer, and that one bobcat in our territory. Basically, everyone except a select few are still panicking.”
I asked the boys if we need an action plan to help the critters.
“Vandalism. Arson. Those are just a couple ideas off the top of my head,” Gus said. He suggested stealing a logging truck and a CAT machine to put trees across roads to block them.
“Only The Grumpy Old Man knows how to drive those and he wouldn’t agree with this plan,” I said. “It’s also dangerous in case anyone needs an ambulance or something.”
Case Findings:
The wildlife was still scared about losing their land even with the proposed dump on hold. We agreed to keep up with the local development news as best as possible. Even though it’s a bit of fantasizing, we will also continue to look up lots to buy where we can have a preserve, even a small one.
If the Chipmunk Mafia needs support, we agreed to provide whatever we can.
Case Status: Open