I’m at my desk editing last Friday when my intern, Fiona, says, “Tom, there’s a chipmunk in your office.” Now, I get a little freaked out by wildlife, especially when it’s indoors, but I managed not to startle until I actually laid eyes on it. Yep, right there, paused on my floor—a chipmunk. I followed it through my house, opened the front door, and casually herded it outside, with Fiona’s help.
About an hour later, Fiona had gone home, but the chipmunk had returned. Yes, back in my office. And since I was alone I was free to really jump when I spotted it. I thought it would be a simple matter of herding out the front door again, but this time, the chipmunk ran into the kitchen and under the stove.
I made a system of barricades in the kitchen to force the chipmunk closer to our open back door, but it took to hiding under the refrigerator, and stayed there until the next morning. I saw it beside the fridge, so we left it alone with our barricades up and the back door open. Several checks later in the day found no further sign of chipmunk. It seemed like a good opportunity to pull out the fridge and clean all around it, vacuum the coils, etc., so I can with certainty say it isn’t in the fridge anymore. We sure hope it found its way outside and is not lurking somewhere in the house, waiting to startle me a third time.
