meetmunks

CHIPMUNKS 1995

CHIPMUNKS 1996

CHIPMUNKS 1997

CHIPMUNKS 1998

CHIPMUNKS 1999

CHIPMUNKS 2000

Maxim

Star

Boggy

Clovis

Minky

Boggy	Clovis
Minky	Clovis and Minky's children 1998:

Boggy	Clovis	Minky
Clovis and Boggy's children 1999:	Chrissie	Clovis and Minky's children 1999:

Boggy	Clovis	Minky
Chrissie	Un-named Female	Clovis & the Un-named Female's children 2000 These chipmunk babies are For Sale !

Max

Maxim Reality. Bought in Chatham (Kent) in October 1995, when he was 6 months old. He is a hand tame male Chipmunk.

Unfortunately, Maxim became the victim of a cat attack soon after he was bought. Originally Maxim had a friend called Liam, and they came as a pair. Rather naively, they were brought into a house where four cats and two chinchillas were living. We didn't think the cats would take much notice of the chipmunks, as they had already been taught to mostly ignore the chinchillas. But the cats were fascinated by the chipmunks, and would sit near the cage and stare into it at every opportunity. The chipmunks' speed and agility made them an irresistible challenge to the cats, and quickly the docile chinchillas seemed totally uninteresting and invisible to them. Every time one of the cats even looked at the chipmunks, it would be scolded, and soon all four cats would ignore the chipmunk cage altogether. But, we were tricked by this crafty feline behaviour, and one morning I found the chipmunk cage on it's side with the door open. Liam had disappeared, and Maxim was cowering in his nestbox in the corner of the cage, terrified. After the cage had been secured and righted, we searched for Liam but to no avail. Later, we found chipmunk fur between the claws of Peppe, one of the cats. He was scolded and kept out of the house for the night.

A few weeks passed, and the cats were again totally ignoring the chipmunks. Especially Peppe, who was being exceedingly well-behaved, and did not once even attempt a sideways glance at the cage, even when Max was at his most active. One day, Peppe was near the cage washing himself, and minding his own business. I looked away for a second, and the next second Peppe was running away as fast as he could, and Max was frantically washing his tail. Maxim had stupidly let his tail hang out between the bars of the cage. This had obviously been too much of a temptation for Peppe, who had swiped the protuding tail off with a sharp-clawed paw. The last few centimetres of Maxim's tail had been skinned by the cat. Luckily Chipmunk tails are designed to do this in order to help captured chipmunks escape, but it is very stressful for them. Maxim was taken to the Vet, the stump of his tail was cleaned, and he was put on antibiotics. His tail never grew back, but he recovered perfectly, and the lost portion of tail did not affect his agility and balance.

Click here to see exactly how much tail Max lost (This is a picture of the skinned piece of his tail, so do not click here if you are squeamish !)

Star

Star is a rare white chipmunk bought in Chelmsford (Essex) on 13th April 1996. He was not tame at first, but then gradually became more and more accustomed to humans.

Star and Birdfriend

In July 1996 Star made friends with a budgie called Birdfriend. First of all they were wary of each other - if Star approached the bird too quickly, it would fly away. He soon learned to approach more slowly so as not to frighten Birdfriend. Each creature seemed equally fascinated by the other. If Star came too close to Birdfriend, the bird would just walk away - it had realised that it was unnescessary to take flight as the chipmunk meant no harm. They would sit together, and did not seem to mind each other's company in the least. If Star started to wash himself, Birdfriend would start to preen his feathers. If the chipmunk called, then the bird would chirp in answer, and vice versa.

Boggy was bought on 4th May 1996 in Cheltenham. She had a brown chipmunk friend called Fleekit, who sadly drowned on 24th May 1996. Boggy is hand tame.

Clovis is a very laid-back little chipmunk. He is quite happy to recline in anyone's hand and be stroked, and he especially enjoys snuggling to sleep in pockets.

One day Minky fought with Clovis, and unfortunately he had to have his right hind leg amputated as a result. However, it has not affected his agility, lifestyle, personality or level of contentment - he carries out his lifestyle as normal.

Clovis was loose in the room, and Minky was locked in her large cage. I was away for the weekend, and when I returned, Clovis had injured his right hind leg. I did not see exactly what happened, but the scenario must have been similar to this: Minky and Clovis must have been fighting through the wire of Minky's cage, (above). Minky had managed to pull Clovis' leg through the 2cm by 1cm wire mesh, and attack it. The leg was degloved from the hock to the toes, and immediately Clovis was taken to the Vet. I thought that the leg may be broken also, but luckily it wasn't. The Vet amputated the leg on the following day. She informed me that rodents cope extremely well with injury and amputation, and that Clovis would be able to lead a normal, happy life.

A month after the operation Clovis is doing extremely well with only three legs. He is still as agile as he used to be, but maybe not quite so fast ! He can even still mate with Minky without a problem (!!!), but now of course the two chipmunks are only allowed out together with supervision.

The crescent shaped line in the fur of Clovis' hindquarters is the only evidence that remains of the leg amputation operation. The fur will grow back properly when the next moult occurs.