The Trickster

I've shared many a tale on these pages featuring the critters who live in our yard. You've already met some of our birds and bunnies. This little fellow is a chipmunk who plays a trickster sort of character in the unfolding saga of "As the Yard Turns."

Now, I myself adore chipmunks. But my husband doesn't. He worries that when his back is turned, the chipmunks are stealing carrot bites from the bunny trays.

We do not actually have evidence that such thievery is going on. But it's a thing he is concerned about. Somehow he doesn't mind feeding the birds and the bunnies. But feeding a chipmunk? Oh no!

I also remember that one time he actually SAW a vole run by and nab something off the bunny tray. I laughed myself into giggle-fits. It was so cute! But oh boy, was my husband hot under the collar! ("The vole is protected," I told him, making the universal mafioso signal for protected. "Capiche?")

So we do not have evidence enough to convict the chipmunk of any sort of wrong-doing. But we have our suspicions. Look at those sweet tiny hands. And look at that dear little face. Could that possibly be the face of . . . a carrot thief? Hmm?

The song to accompany this image of our littlest trickster in the yard, the chipmunk, is Dire Straits, with Your Latest Trick.