A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Well, all right then. I’m in the clear on this one.
You might have noticed that I don’t like squirrels. On the other hand, I’m rather fond of chipmunks, even though they’re members of the same rodent family: Sciuridae.
In truth, as I take more photos and video, I find that almost any creature is interesting when I just watch it for a while. Here, I especially like the feet, poised for sudden action. And although it’s not obvious from this angle, buddy has something, umm, chipmunked away in his left cheek. Either that or he needs a root canal.
The shot I didn’t get is the one where he/she turned to face me directly, alerted by the camera click. That’s when those feet went into action and buddy was gone, into his burrow, his/her face nothing but a passing blur.
Chipmunks are safer than squirrels, although people who try to handle them can get nasty bites. They are easy to attract and fun to watch. They seem entirely harmless. They provide moral lessons for children, from “hurry up,” to “save for a rainy (snowy) day.” No summer cottage should be without them, and from what I see on Wiki, no summer cottage is!
Laurna – And as far as I know they don’t strip magnolias trees of their blossoms. Ahead of squirrels on all counts.