Chipmunks And Spring

Here in New England spotting the a harbinger of Spring is only akin to seeing the first snowflake in Fall.  Last week I caught a robin eating the holly berries. Phil-that's Punxtwany Phil, of course, may be the most famous weather animal/ weather fortuneteller, but  he has a tinier cousin, the chipmunk,  who does not get as much press, but only shows himself when the last days of February begin to warm up enough to remind us that there is  green under that white blanket.
Now that first thing you must know, is that little fellow is not really hibernating. Well, he does sleep. But unlike the true hibernators, he does not store up an extra supply of body fat.  He wakes up to eat some the seeds, berries, nuts, and grains  he gathered in his pouches and  brought back to his burrow. Then he falls back to sleep. Scientists call this a torpor.  Does this sound like something you would like to try? Unlike another larger cousin, the gray squirrel, he just is not big enough to manage the snow.
 We know Aesop's fable about the grasshopper and the ant; again,  the little guy anxiously preparing for the cold ahead while the grasshopper baths in the warmth. Getting ready for winter is important to the chipmunk. Their short two to three year life, becomes shorter without a winter cache.
I began wondering about the chipmunks after I saw a few scurrying over the hardened snow.  There seems to be a fair amount of love for this little creature. Maybe we have Alvin and his friends  to thank for that. But in the real forest and farm world the chipmunk plays an important roll. Even though these speedy ground squirrels spend most of their time hidden under grass or in stone walls or ducking into a  tree hallow, they are fairly easy prey for the fox, coyote, hawk, or snake looking for supper. They also raise the farmer's angst when they eat the newly planted seeds, but get an appreciative nod when they munch on insects destroying the crops.
Maybe with a little luck or quick flash someone has snapped this cutie with his five backstripes, glossy eyes, and straight up tail as he darted across the yard or stole a seed from the bird feeder.

A Robin Wintering In Connecticut

Sometimes Nature reminds us that even the very familiar can be special.  Even though the robin is a common backyard visitor and often the  harbinger of Spring known to every child,  this  puffed-up, haughty fellow sitting in my evergreen  on this very cold February morning reminded me how Nature can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary if we are willing to take a moment to appreciate it. You can see the look in my visitor's eye. Can you hear him saying? "I know I am the most handsome..."

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Sharing The Wonder of Birds With Kids by Laura Erickson