Yesterday's Chipmunk Ordeal

Emerald...

...was out across the road where the cats normally go; a forest full interesting things to is too much for a curious cat to pass up. Yep, she found something interesting...

a chipmunk.

She must have chased it onto the road before she came in for treats; I had to call Winston in

because he was too preoccupied with the activities of a crow. 

Seems the little chipmunk had dashed across our road and got itself noticed by the ever watchful glaze of a crow, sitting high in a tree top.

Well, the crow was thinking 'easy dinner' and the chipmunk was praying 'ESCAPE' and I was concerned because Winston was meandering on the road so I wasn't paying attention to the crow he kept stopping to watch, I was too busy watching for vehicles that might hit Winston.

Finally he came to me, then I took notice of what the crow was up to. In the driveway of my neighbor the crow was attaching the chipmunk. I yelled and it paid no heed until I came running at it, it then decided that it might be prudent to watch from on high. 

While it perched in a tree, I checked the little chipmunk. It ran from me three times before I was able to turn it over in the grass and carefully pick it up. They bite - I wasn't interested in getting a needle for the bite I would recieve if I wasn't cautious so I pulled my sweater sleeve over my hand and picked it up with the other. The frightened chipmunk sank its teeth deep into my sweater and hung on making tiny squeaky noises as I held it. The crow took a keen interest in 'just what I thought I was doing with its prey...'

 After all, he had a mate to feed!

Holding the tiny chipmunk

who had cupped itself into my hand and was still munching on my sweater, I took it across the road and into the forest. Finding a place with low growing, very young trees, I carefully peeled the chipmunk's mouth from my sleeve and separated the two. It curled into a ball in my palm. I placed the little guy under a low growing tree and covered its hiding place over with dead leaves to shelter it from the rain which had started to fall. 

The rest I left to the Lord, its His chipmunk after all. 

When I finally emerged from the woods the crow scanned me carefully to see whether I still had its dinner with me. When he realized I did not... 

  well, he wasn't too happy about it. 

He flew to a nearby tree across the road but he wouldn't know where to begin looking for his lost prey.

I hope the chipmunk recovered enough to find its way back to its family and I hope the crow found some other prey for its mate. 

It remains in the Lord's hands because its His business to take care of both.

Catspaw