Or I should say, "Am I Smarter Than A Chipmunk?
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/maxinesq02.jpg)
When it all started, it was a cute little chipmunk frisking around in front of my picture window, very entertaining.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/chpmunk_001.jpg)
Then I noticed my rose blossoms were disappearing and twigs were broken, could it be the chipmunk??
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/chpmunk_002.jpg)
Then I noticed some shredded pieces of something on the garage floor near the door, but couldn't figure out what it was.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/chpmunk_003.jpg)
When I went in the garage, something whisked by me and I knew it was the dam chipmunk. When I raised the garage door, I noticed that in the corner it had chewed away the bottom corner of the weatherstripping and that is what I saw shredded on the garage floor.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/chpmunk_004.jpg)
Enough, is enough. I did some research on the Internet and what appears to be a sweet, cute little animal can really cause a lot of damage. Not only that, they bring in their friends and it only gets worse from there. They gave a number of solutions, but the best one seemed to be to use a Havahart trap, so its off to J & L Hardware and Jeff fixes me right up for around $31 with tax, but it will be worth it. Spent two days of having the trap tripped, checking and no chipmunk, resetting over and over again. Then I saw the chipmunk trip the trap and just lift the door and go right out. Figured I had better re-read my directions on resetting the trap and sure enough, I forgot to set the door lock.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/chpmunk_005.jpg)
Fifteen minutes later, I am smarter than a chipmunk and in the above picture you can see the proof.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/chpmunk_006.jpg)
Well, the instructions said, its best to drop them off at least five miles away, so I put the trap in the car and headed off over the Swamp Road, up Woodward Road, across Buck Hollow Road and stopped away from houses in a wooded area. I took my cooler out and put the trap on top of it and took the picture above. I was going to open the door as I squatted in the middle of the dirt road and take a picture of the chipmunk as it scooted off into the wilderness. Well, wouldn't you know it, a car came along on this deserted dirt road, stopped and asked if I had a problem. Well, I was looking at the dam problem in the Havahart cage and sheepishly told the lady I was letting a chipmunk loose out in the woods and had driven about five miles to do so. The lady told me she just wanted to make sure I was O.K., as she drove off. God!! I hope I don't see her again. I was soooooooo embarrassed. Needless to say, I opened the trap, let the chipmunk go and didn't bother trying to take another picture. As I was turning around, a pickup truck and another car came along and I met a couple more cars on the way out of there. Oh Well!!! so much for deserted roads and quietly getting rid of a chipmunk, but bottom line, although I had my doubts for a while:
"I AM SMARTER THAN A CHIPMUNK."
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