The
chipmunks have begun to emerge from their hibernation. I saw one today sitting
on the stone wall by the garden shed just sunning itself near midday. In the
summer, our yard and area around the barn has half a dozen of these “seven
stripers,” as my father used to call them, and we become rather familiar with
their various den hole locations. The majority of these are simply emergent
holes from the ground, and so I now wonder if the chipmunks have been growing
impatient, since the ground still has a half foot of dense snow nearly
everywhere.
In a
month or so, these little visitors will be scurrying about frenetically, mostly
picking up bird seed until nature’s provender kicks in with the growth season.
Now, I can’t help but chuckle to watch this singular newcomer, sitting quietly
on the rock, gazing out at the white snow. I imagine that it is trying to
determine if it woke too early.
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