Finding "Chip"

The hubbub around our place today revolves around a chipmunk who found his way into our basement. I'm thinking he must have come in through the mudroom when the kids came home from school; the door was left wide open for several minutes.

Anyway, Spencer was the first to spot him running down the basement stairs. He said, "MOM, we have a squirrel in the house. I saw his tail. I'm serious!" I believed him and we both tiptoed down to the storage room. I think we were more startled than the creature. I told Spencer to go first, but he wouldn't. We began looking in the storage room and I saw him run behind some containers. Being the wimps we are, both Spencer and I jumped on top of the first first thing we could find and just waited. Of course, he didn't come out, so we decided to do the next most logical thing- call Brad!

When Brad got home, he was on the phone right away and figured out where to buy a trap. Of course, we couldn’t injure the little guy, so Brad came home with a $25 trap called “Havahart.” Spencer and I headed off to scouts, while Brad and the others put the trap together and loaded it with apples with peanut butter and soda crackers. Spencer was anxious to check the trap when we returned home, but nothing was there.

This morning, Sawyer was the first to check the trap. Still, no chipmunk. We started to wonder if he’d made his way out of the storage room and through some unknown hole in the foundation.

Anyway, after the boys left for school, I took something downstairs and noticed the trap doors were down. And, low and behold, we caught a chipmunk! I was so excited, I wanted to share the news with someone, but was also in a hurry to get things straightened up before my visiting teachers came. So, as soon as they arrived, we ventured downstairs with the camera and I was able to share the moment with them and Lucy.

After several pictures, for the boys, we let “Chip” go in the woods behind our house. Brad thinks “Chip” lives in a hole under our front porch. He said next time he might just buy a mouse trap. I said “I didn’t have the heart to leave him in the cage until the boys got home.."

Charlie had a total meltdown when he came home from school and realized I had let the chipmunk go. He really wanted to see him. Fortunately, the video and pictures brought some restitution.