I was taking a short day hike around the campground in Collier Memorial Park in Oregon when I met another camper/traveler and our conversation turned to current events.
It was unique how on August 25, 2018, neither one of us were aware of current events, and in so many ways I felt it was a fortunate blessing.
But, later in the day, when I tried reminiscing about how my television network viewing has evolved as a half dozen Chipmunks scurried about wanting food with one climbing onto the picnic table looking at me to give him or her some food.
My thoughts turned to my earliest memories of television of seeing Captain Kangeroo, Romper room and the Disney cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Fortunately, these daylight rodents take to their below gournd holes for sleep around six or seven in the evening like clock work just like the off air symbols above were displayed on televisions decades ago.
The outside natural world is my entertainment, but the overabundance of Chipmunks in the Collier Memorial Campground became an annoyance beyond belief. The “Do not feed the wildlife,” signs at every National and State Park is posted to keep animals afraid of humans.
Park rangers advised me the large numbers of Chipmunk was caused by the warm winter of 2017-2018 in Oregon allowing hundreds of Chipmunks who normally would not have survived the winter to multiply excessively this past spring.
Of course, campground visitors who fed the Chipmunks destroyed their fear of humans to a point they have entered peoples opened vehicles, food sitting around and sit on top of the picnic tables begging for food. Many of the little rascals scurry to within five feet or more begging for food.
The nine or ten in my campground alone were an annoyance keeping me from focusing as I wrote or read. It was apparent the lack of hawks, eagles, owls, foxes and coyotes could and would solve this problem.
A couple of months ago when I was in Vermont the quiet nights were significantly calm with only the scurrying of nocturnal animals moving about until an Owl was heard hooting which caused other animals to stop their movement abruptly.
I know many of your will look at these photos and go oooh, ahhhh, but I so desperately wished for an Owl or Hawk to fly through the campground day or night. 🙂
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