September 13, 2015
I always fear putting the cats out...it's a cruel world out there and every outside cat I’ve known gets eaten by coyotes
My husband decided that the Cats needed some outside time. We compromised on the inside/outside thing and decided that they could go outside, only if we watched them and only during the day.
Quick note about me and animals… They call me Snow White.
Picture a woman sitting in a meadow with a cute little raccoon in her lap, a bunny in her arms, a tiny frog on her knee, little birds circling around and two chipmunks sitting on her head…
Can you visualize that? Well, that’s me!
In reality I have 2 young pups, 1 old dog, 2 cats, 1 canary, 2 goats and a chicken. Then, whenever possible, I befriend all the wild animals I can. I feed the wild ducks and birds and squirrels and chipmunks, etc. I’m a disaster in the animal department. I love them all. I’d feed the deer too, but that’s where my husband draws the line.
I do, inadvertently, feed the deer, but I can’t help it that they find my rose bushes real yummy!
Anyway, back to the cat story. We put my cats outside for the first time and they were in kitty cat heaven. I was a nervous wreck. Not only because I was afraid that my obese cats would become coyote snacks but I feared for the lives of all of my little wild friends outside.
I was hopeful that they would be safe since, as I mentioned, my cats are both fat …
and I assumed their blubber bellies would weigh them down, make them slow, and keep them from jumping into the air to catch the wild birds mid-flight.
I was wrong. Cats, even my sweet fur- babies, are ruthless and brutal hunters with no regard for the cute fluffiness of my wild friends. This is a horrifying fact when you’ve bonded with and named every critter living on your 20 acres.
I tried to be a big girl and go about my business outside.
I tended to my cottage garden and glanced at the cats frolicking in the grass and jumping at the bugs that they scared out of the flowers.
Then I got comfortable and stopped obsessively watching every move they made and that’s when it happened. I heard a squeal for help. I ran toward the squealing and the cats and then I realized as I was running toward them that Rex, my naughty boy cat, was torturing an adorable baby chipmunk.
I pounced on my cat and was able to carefully pry the little fella out of Rex’s wicked jaws
and, to my surprise… there wasn’t a scratch on him!
He was a very new baby chipmunk so, of course, I was obligated to bottle-feed and raise him until he was strong enough to survive on his own.
My daughter, Chloe, dashed to the pet store, got some puppy replacement formula and a tiny bottle and we raised him.
It often doesn’t work out well to raise wild baby animals but this time it was a very happy ending. He must have been just old enough because the little chipmunk thrived.
At first, I kept him in a shoe box and then moved him to an old sugar-glider cage that I had in the barn. I carried him around in my pocket and took him out to play on the grass. I weened him from formula and onto avocado, grapes and rat biscuits and he ate like a champ.
Chloe, also known as Snow White the Second, helped me raise the little guy.
We named him Saffron Possum Butt. I think it was a wine induced brain-storming session with Nate, Chloe’s boyfriend when we came up with that genius name!
In a few weeks, he was strong enough to be on his own and he actually started to seem like he was going a little crazy in the cage.
So, I mustered the courage to set him free in my cottage garden. As he ran off, I cried. That was it. I was sure he’d be gone forever. I sat in my garden for quite a while, hoping to catch a glimpse of him dashing about. But Saffron Possum-Butt vanished. I was heart-broken but happy that I did the right thing and set him free.
I left his cage in the garden in case he wanted to revisit. I put food in there for him and some water in case he didn’t know how to get water from our two ponds and stream! I put some fluffy bedding in a little hanging nook for him in case he was cold. I prayed he wouldn’t become prey for the Garter snakes, and I fussed about even though he was nowhere to be seen.
The next day I took some peanuts out and checked his cage to see if he took any of the food I had left in the little dish…and lo and behold…there he was, inside his cottage snacking. I was over-joyed.
“Hello Saffron! Are you hungry?”
He climbed out of the cage and right onto my shoulder and feasted on the peanuts I brought him. When he was finished, he dashed about the cottage garden, up the branches of the oak tree and in and out of the little nook house that I hung in the tree. It could not have been more perfect. He was thriving on his own, but he still came around to say hello and beg for food!
Saffron has been known to peak in the patio window and beg for peanuts if we’ve neglected him for too long. He has climbed on my husband’s lap as he tried to enjoy his coffee on our front porch.
Chloe can go outside and call him and he will come running.
We’ve all bonded with Saffron. He is a super cool critter. He isn’t picky though. He has no fear and likes anyone who will feed him.
At our big Summer party, I felt the need to make a sign: Beware of Saffron the Chipmunk. He will steal your food and your heart and PLEASE DON’T STEP ON HIM!
Saffron did some major begging right before the winter hit. He stuffed his little chipmunk cheeks full of peanuts…certainly enough to get him through the winter. We haven’t seen him for about a month. We’re hoping, come springtime, he will be back to his old begging self…we miss him. I’ll keep you guys posted on any Saffron Sightings! Fingers crossed!
To watch a video version of this story, Click below! xo
XO Jill & Saffron
