Just witnessed a weird event.

While standing and visiting with a friend outside a local grocery store, we saw a garter snake slithering across the parking lot as fast as it could go. Right behind it was a chipmunk trying to catch it. The chipmunk grabbed the snake by the back of it's neck and ran back toward the bushes from whence it came with the small snake wrapping itself around it. I just gained a new respect for the little chipmunks which usually seem so timid. They can be FEROCIOUS!

Now that's sure is something to see!!!

Big monk boom in the Black Hills this year they are all over the forest.

Chipmunks eat a lot of meat. Female chipmunks, that are pregnant or nursing, eat a lot more meat, just like pregnant and nursing rats do. Chipmunks kill and eat lots of baby birds and some adults. Chipmunks will kill pigeons. I had pigeons getting killed in a loft. I thought it was rats doing it, but caught a chipmunk in the act.

Keith

Their pretty honory one sent my cousin for a series of rabies shots fifty years ago lol remember that like it was yesterday

Don't have chipmunks in South Georgia. Middle and North Ga have them.

Ornery

I have a friend, Scott, who was catching chipmunks, with 2 of my uncles, when they were kids. They were in the cemetery, pouring water from the pumps in place to water the flowers on the graves, down chipmunk holes. The chipmunks would get flooded out and go into jars they placed over the holes. They would slide a piece of cardboard under the jar to block the chipmunks in and catch them.

Scott took one half drowned, water logged chipmunk out of a jar. He held it cradled in his arm against his shirtless chest and started petting it. He said "Look it's already tame.", right as the chipmunk bit and lockdowned on his nipple. He tore the chipmunk off, nearly severing his own nipple completely off. He then threw the chipmunk into a tombstone, killing it.

Keith

Many years ago at a Scout Camp they had a large rattlesnake in a fish tank. They put a live chipmunk in there so we could see the snake eat it. I guess the snake wasn't that hungry, It didn't go after the chipmunk.

But the chipmunk attacked the snake, kept jumping on it's back and biting at the base of it's skull. They ended up removing the chipmunk thinking it might kill the rattler.

My daughter took a live one away from one of the cats whan she was about 6 or 7. It was in rough shape we put it in a wire hamster cage. It recovered and we let it go when the weather warmed up. It was never mean or friendly. Boy I'm going to tell you thay sure are fast. Cleaning the cage it ran right IL my arm twice and got out into the house. It went upstairs into the loft both times. It was just storage at the time
. Any time it tried to come down the stairs my German short-haired pointer was ok n it and it went back up stairs. After 2 days I put a small box trap up ther with peanut butter and water. Befor I could get sat down I heard the trap fire and it was caught.

They will climb you like a tree and like squirrels their nails will leave 5 little bloody spots each place they grab. Yes we have raised squirrels also. Some were in a nest in a tree I removed.

Neat, love seeing nature at work.

I never would have guessed that and would have liked to see it. Now if I could just keep the chipmunks from eating all the chicken feed then I may let them live.

We really need you to make a drawing of that.

That would be something to see.
It doesnt surprize me however since I dont know of any other rodent that does not eat meat when they get the chance,except maybe beaver-I have never seen a beaver actually consume meat.Muskrats,rabbits squirrells mice all use meat in their diets.

I have heard that beavers will eat clams when they need the nutrients. Don't know if it is true.

Yes, we do, please.

Keith

One of the best bait/ lure I've used for red squirrels is fish/ fish oil. My daughter was watching a red squirrel chase a vole around the yard, no doubt he was going to eat it. Talked to a wildlife biologist once and she told me that red squirrels are predatory and when their numbers are high can put a hurtin on marten and snowshoe hare babies.

I've seen red squirrels tear into grey squirrels and much larger fox squirrels. I've shot lots of squirrels while they are fighting.

Keith

I only had time for a "quicky". You really had to be there.

Is Trap Stickman shooting at the chipmunk or the snake?

Red and Flying Squirrels have plugged my marten sets at times. To the point I move on to elsewhere.

I consider chipmunks a nuisance around my place. I use Victor rat traps with a peanut wired to the pan and kill them. They cause a lot of damage. I can't think of anything beneficial about them.

Naw, he is just pointing at it. The guy I was talking to thought about it , though, since he was carrying and hates snakes as much as you do.

When setting out a new area with marten boxes,I mark all the catches on the side of the box for the first season with red dots for squirrells and green dots for marten.
Any boxes with high squirrel catches and very low to no marten catches get moved.Sometimes you dont have to move those boxes very far to change the catch rates.
Here if you set a box near any witch brooms you are likely to get lots of flyers.
Marking boxes is a real eye opener and in the long run really helps efficiency on the marten line by checking much fewer empty traps.

Thank you. I like it.

Keith

Wow

Study in the Yukon years ago found one of the biggest predators on young rabbits (snowshoe hares) was red squirrels.