Chip and Dale – The Antics Of Two Least Chipmunks

You remember Chip and Dale don’t you?

Yesterday morning I was essentially bird-skunked so these very cooperative Least Chipmunks saved my day. I had the strong impression they were young siblings but I don’t know that for sure.

 

While I was photographing these two Chipmunks in the mountains yesterday Chip and Dale of cartoon fame came strongly to mind. At one point there were actually three chipmunks on top of this old fence post but I was too close to fit them all in the frame so I’m not including any of those shots.

 

 

In the warming morning sun they did a lot of grooming and…

 

 

scratching and…

 

 

looking for new places to scratch. Just before this shot was taken this one had ‘his’ nose stuck way back there between his legs.

 

 

They were contortionists when they needed to be.

 

 

Like most youngsters (in this case, presumed) they were full of the devil. This one reached over and pushed his little pal…

 

 

over the edge of the post.

 

 

But they were obviously bonded to each other. I had to wonder if the little fella on the right wasn’t keeping tactile track of his buddy using the tip of his very long tail.

 

 

I was so close to these guys they were often too tight in the frame but when I saw this photo I had to rescue it compositionally by adding a strip of canvas at the top frame edge. This photo strongly reminds me of of the photo I posted two days ago of “Frick and Frack”, a pair of very chummy Cedar Waxwings.

 

I took about 500 shots of these guys and probably clipped or cut off at least one tail in about half of them, even though I tried very hard to avoid doing so. Their tail is so long and ‘unpredictable’ and chipmunks are so incredibly fast that I use the guillotine on their tails way too often, especially when I have multiple chipmunks in the frame.

The only bird I can think of (that I regularly photograph) whose very long tail makes it nearly as easy to clip as Chipmunk tails is the Black-billed Magpie.

Ron

 

PS – At the last minute I decided to include the single photo from yesterday that frustrated me most.

 

Don’t ask me what’s going on here, only the chipmunk knows.

He was running down the post when he suddenly reached out and grabbed a twig to support his body and then reached out toward something?, as if in desperation. It was so sudden and unexpected I not only clipped his tail, I lost sharp focus on him.

Of all the photos I took yesterday this is the one I wanted most to turn out well. I probably won’t delete it but in all likelihood it’ll never be seen again. I can live with the clipped tail but it’s just a little too soft, even with extra sharpening applied during processing.

But I love seeing it anyway.

 

50 Comments

  1. Adorbs!

  2. yeah, i’m with chipmunk yoga as mark said ;-D
    especially that last shot!
    they are such little characters. thanks ron!

  3. Chuckling all the way through this post. Much cuter than Chip and Dale. If they’re females, perhaps call them Tami and Mini. Might be a bit more obscure etymology than Chippendale.
    We have the native Townsend’s Chipmunks and Douglas’ Squirrels visiting the ground under the feeders. I’m doing catch and relocate with the non-native Eastern Gray Squirrels to reduce the competition (70 so far). Admittedly environmentally problematic to relocate, but I’ve talked myself into thinking the tradeoff is justified since I have a yard full of native plants (and birds, of course).

  4. Arwen Professional Joy Seeker

    In “On Walden,” Thoreau refers to the chirp of the striped squirrel. I’ve wondered if that was a corner name of the chipmunk. Never researched it. 🙂

  5. Love these shots — including the last one! We’ll just say that it’s a documentary shot of an interesting and unusual behavior. 😉

    Young chippies’ antics are so much fun to watch. Saw a few over the summer, but they really came out of hiding the couple days I was up after the kids left when there were just 3 of us around camp. A couple of youngsters let their curiosity get the better of them as I was at the camp porch one morning and came pretty close, egging each other on to get closer and closer to where I was sitting. I didn’t dare move to reach for my phone, so unfortunately no pictures of them just a few feet from me.

  6. They are enviously flexible and super cute.
    I hope you smiled broadly as you watched as I am viewing them on screen.

  7. Absolutely Fantastic shots!!!! Love em!

  8. Chip and Dale were my favorite Disney characters as a kid (I had two parakeets later in life that I named after them, too) so I can understand your attraction to the antics of these two. They’re adorable critters! 🐿 🐿

  9. These started my day off with a smile. Thanks!

  10. These little guys made me giggle. Thanks for the morning laugh, Ron! What a great way to start the day!

  11. I had to share this one, made me smile and thought my friends might need a smile too.

  12. A few years ago my wife and I went out to our property in the middle of the state with our grandson. Shortly after we arrived (very late for the boy) we were getting beds ready and heard him say “Grandma, who brought the rabbit?” To our astonishment there was a chipmunk inside the RV running all around. They are funny and cute, but I like them best when they are outside. I had to catch and release that little guy, which came with its own challenges. Your post reminded me of this.

  13. I thoroughly understand and empathize with that feeling that you just can’t bear to toss a “special” shot. FWIW i think all the shots are fun and sweet and cute and I wouldn’t have been able to toss any of them either, especially the last couple. Chipmunks always make me smile even as singletons but two or more have the same appeal as baskets of puppies crawling over each other I think, eliciting oohs and aahs and lots of laughter in even the most jaded. What a fun day.

  14. Nice set of shots. Love the last one! Have never seen anything similar. Good work, Ron.

  15. Obviously he is showing off for the camera! Gotta love a Chippy. Especially a young, foolish one.

  16. I have one that scurries across my deck each morning in search of a morning meal. I have to resist tossing him a scrap or two !!

  17. Everett F Sanborn

    Put a big smile on my face as I sipped my coffee. Outstanding series of these Least Chipmunks. At a couple locations where I go I am often photographing these guys and gals. They are so cute and entertaining. The first and the last are my favorites. You absolutely had to add canvas to save that last one. Synchronized eating presented by the Least Brothers (or Sisters).
    Not missing our feathered friends at all when you come up with these cuties.

  18. Cute! They ARE entertaining and boy, are they flexible! 😄

    On the downside one showed up here yesterday from who knows where – dog going nuts – thought it had a packrat. GEEZ! Not something we see in this area.

  19. So the burning question – Which one’s Chip and which one’s Dale?? I really love this series, especially the last photo. Chipmunk yoga maybe?

    • Downward Chipmunk??

    • Mark, the ‘real’ Chip and Dale have 3 differences – their front teeth, the hair on top of their heads and the color of their noses. Since ‘my’ Chip and Dale don’t show any of those differences I can’t tell them apart… 🙂

      • The one in back, when they look so much alike, appears to have a dark bar connecting two lines behind the eye. Thanks for including the last one. It’s the most fun for me.

  20. Love these photos! The chipmunks are so cute and its fun to see their antics up close. A very cheery group to go with morning coffee! Thanks.

  21. What a wonderful series! Chipmunks are so happy-making. 🙂

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