Baby Ground Squirrels Separated During Relocation
This rainy day brought a pleasant side adventure with it. The rain had stopped but after a few days of ground saturation it created a bit of an upheaval for at least one family in our yard.
We were just coming home from the store carrying items into the house. My daughter comes into the house with arms loaded to announce, "There's a baby chipmunk in the yard. It's eyes aren't even open yet."
There right off the front porch was the cutest little fur ball rooting round as if searching for its home. I quickly went inside saying, "Hope it stays long enough for me to get a picture."
There is no way I figured it would. I imagined it had wondered out of its burrow and Mom would soon be along to guide it back home. I don't know a lot about ground squirrels except for the pictures I take when on occasion I see them perched on a tree stump or sitting up to check out the area. You can see some of those samples on my Pictures of Squirrels Page.
So I was surprised to find the little creature still there when I returned. We had fun for a few minutes taking pictures of the little guy as he climbed around the porch and dirt the yard. He was obviously looking for his home or family as it turned out.
My daughter put her finger next to him and he didn't run in fright. I guess he wasn't even old enough to know we humans can be dangerous sometimes.
As Tommie moved to get a shot from a different direction she announced, "There's another one over here."
Sure enough under brush was another baby. Soon the first one made his way to his brother. I say he and his because we didn't get close enough to check gender. They may well have been sisters or brother and sister. The only sure thing is they were from the same litter.
I looked later to find that ground squirrels have a litter of around 9 babies once a year. So these two were somehow separated from family it would seem.
My granddaughter, Savannah, wanted in on the fun too. She wanted a closer look at this tiny baby chipmunk number one. Ground squirrel scurried to get together with brother under that bush. There's safety in numbers you know.
The rain started up again sending this photographer running for shelter as well.
A short time later the rest of the story was revealed to us. Mama came to gather her wondering babies. She guided them through the yard to higher, drier ground I'm sure. It felt good to know family was back together again in a place of safety.
Sally Stoneking
Publisher: www.nature-and-flower-pictures.com
