Pooh Bierre brought a chipmunk into the Chateau, it was here for days! 

Not wanting to be left out of taking care of the rodent issue, Pooh Bierre decided to bring a chipmunk into the Chateau and let it go so he could catch it.  Unfortunately, he didn’t catch it and it was inside for a few days.

We spent hours looking for the chipmunk, we even had to call in the dogs to help.  The little critter was fast and it zoomed from under the couch where it was hiding to almost outside then back to over the couch.  Unfortunately, no one was small enough to fit under the couch except Fluff, but the chipmunk was IN the couch and Fluff couldn’t find a way into the couch.  So we waited for it to come out.  And waited.  And waited some more.  We laced while we waited, and we napped.  Finally, it came out in the afternoon the day after Pooh Bierre brought it in.

Once we saw the chipmunk out from under the couch, we tried to guide towards the door to the catio.  It found it’s way outside! It was on the catio ready to jump off the deck and go back to its forest home when the cats pounced and chased the chipmunk around the catio until our guest, Meow Meow, caught it and brought it back INSIDE!  Of course, once it was back inside the Chateau it went straight to under the couch.  So we waited again for it to come out.

Later on that evening it came out again.  This time the dogs smelled it first and pointed out where it was hiding, it moved to under the recliner.  Once everyone noticed that the chipmunk was out and about, the chase was on.  First, we started at the recliner.  We extended it out and looked underneath, the cats could smell it but we couldn’t see it.  Then it escaped to the bookcase the fish tank sits on!  It was behind the books, but it was so small it fit in the space between the books and no one’s paw could reach it.  

So the chipmunk was able to escape and scurried over to the couch but pivoted on the way there and ended up by the door to the catio.  It was so close to going back outside, but no.  It ran back the way it came and ended up under the couch again.

 After a few minutes, it emerged, again.  It learned that the catio door leads to outside, and the path to the door from the couch crossed the room, but if it followed the wall it could camouflage with the wall and the carpet.  So it tried to do that with the cats chasing it and ended up jumping into the litter box along with Frosta and Meow Meow.  As we moved the litter box to point it outside, it jumped out!! But it didn’t go outside even though the door was open, it went back under the couch.  And so did Fluff.  We waited again, then went to bed.

Midnight joined Fluff under the couch and they monitored the area overnight.  At some point, the chipmunk got passed Fluff and Midnight’s patrol and scurried to the bedroom!  It hid behind the door under the bag of lavender, but even the lavender couldn’t mask the chipmunk smell and the cats woke up and started the chase.  Luckily it didn’t last too long since the chipmunk ran back to the couch, and everyone went back to sleep.  

In the morning the chipmunk made its final attempt to escape.  We quickly awoke and ran to open the catio door.  The cats got their morning exercise chasing the chipmunk until finally it was cornered in the kitchen.  Meow Meow had it pinned down and we were able to finally pick it up, check it for wounds, and take it outside to a tree far from the Chateau where it quickly scurried up to the canopy.  While it was a fun distraction this time, we have asked Pooh Bierre not to bring in any more chipmunks into the Chateau.