I was standing in the kitchen doorway to our backyard. The dog, Roger, was jumping in the plantings after something. Suddenly, Roger pounced and a chipmunk shot up in the air, through my legs and into the kitchen. I'm sure you all know what havoc a chipmunk in the house can cause so I was desperate to catch him.
He immediately disappeared into the baseboard heating and I couldn't see him. I quickly got a mop and broom to get him but couldn't find him. I wondered if maybe in the 10 seconds I left the spot to get the tools he had dashed out. So I kept looking....nothing. Then Roger reappeared and started sniffing at the baseboard and then pawing at it. I removed the front plate so I could see in and at the very end, on the bend of the heat tubing and under the endcap, I saw a very big eye. I tried to get him to move by poking him with the handle but he froze. I couldn't get at him with my hands (gloved of course) and I certainly didn't want to leave him there all night.
What to do? I got our Electrolux vacuum cleaner which has a long hose. It sucks the dirt thru the hose and thru a tiny (3/4" dia.) hole into the bag. I thought it might pull the chipmonk out enough that I could grab it and get it outside. Well, it did pull the chipmunk out and THUNK sucked it right thru the hose and tiny hole and into the bag. Now I had to make a decision - throw the whole thing in the trash or try for a 'Alvin' rescue. Maybe he was someone's parent. I removed the bag from the machine and went to the woods. Nothing would come out thru the little hole so I had to rip open the bag and there he was, my chipmunk totally covered with dust and a bit stunned. I put him in a nice pile of very wet leaves were he rubbed himself off and into the woods he went.
I wonder with his teeny little head if he'll have any idea of how I saved his life and then stop digging holes in my yard and eating bulbs I'm waiting to see bloom? I doubt it, but it's a nice thought to think he might feel he has a new friend.
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