More Trainable Than My Cat!

The latest addition to our "extended pet family" is this little critter, who we've affectionately - not to mention imaginatively - dubbed, "Chippy!" Vicki has spent the last couple weeks training him (or her!) to expect a peanut or two to be supplied whenever we're out on the back patio, and she was quite brilliant in how she established that pattern. First it was peanuts left for the oh-so-timid chipmunk to find after we'd gone inside, and then they were discarded in locations far enough away from where we sat to allow for cautious retrieval while we were still present to watch. Eventually the offerings were going down - and being picked up! - near our feet, and that inspired me to finally see if the tiny scavenger would take one right from my fingertips.

One of these days I plan to train it to run up my leg and eat on my lap, which would put it several rungs up the evolutionary ladder of trainability from my cat, Lucy. Chippy would probably make less noise, too...