Having noticed that ShopVac, the little Chipmunk, was often visiting our garden, I decided to try to tame him. I put some bird feed in a plastic container and waited patiently. Several minutes later, the Chipmunk came around and without much hesitation, started to pig out on them. 


Sep. 29, 2014

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For fun, I gave our little red squirrel the nickname of "Sarko" because he's very nervous and gesticulates a lot, like President Sarkozy. I nicknamed the little Chipmunk "ShopVac" because he's a very efficient cleaner. 


Sep. 7. 2014


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This year we have been very lucky: several little friends managed to eat together without fighting. A rare occurence. 


Sept. 7, 2014


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Background Information

Over the years I had the opportunity to become friend with a chipmunk and teach him quite a few tricks. 


Recently, I decided to create a dedicated section on my website where I could post the various videos I had taken interacting with that particular chipmunk. 


As you might notice, his original nickname was ShopVac (because he usually cleaned up everything wherever he went) but for the fun of it, I often called him different names to match the theme of some of the videos I was making. 


He was a very smart and pleasant little fellow whose den was under the garage back door steps. 


As you’ll see in the various videos (more to come later), he got tamed quite easily and he recognized me from one year to the next (he had particular markings that made him easily identifiable). 


He was so friendly that he tried to enter our home several times. One day, last year, he managed to do so and we had such a difficult time catching him that I had to get a special humane trap that allowed me to put an end to his exploring our house. I released him in the garden but that didn’t prevent him from trying again several other times (without success). 


This year I have not seen him. I guess he died of old age or COVID-19 during the winter of 2022 (he was not vaccinated….) 


There are other chipmunks in our garden, but they are not as approachable as ShopVac was. Maybe  I’ll be lucky and again this year. 


Since I have filmed with several different cameras, you’ll notice some variations in video quality and frame size. 


Enjoy. 


JF



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This is how our fountain looked during the day in 2014. At the end, you’ll be able to watch our humming-bird at work. Believe me, it was not easy to follow him… 


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*****