{"id":48408,"date":"2021-04-25T19:42:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T23:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/?p=48408"},"modified":"2023-08-10T16:11:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T20:11:49","slug":"pancake-the-chipmunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/2021\/04\/25\/pancake-the-chipmunk\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Pancake: The Friendliest Eastern Chipmunk on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Say hello to Pancake the Chipmunk!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Pancake is a wild Eastern Chipmunk from New Jersey who lives in a burrow in my backyard. She loves climbing, getting brushed gently, and eating peanuts, cashews, and almonds.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My friendship with Pancake began in the summer of 2020 while sheltering in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans were instructed to stay at home beginning in March of 2020 for a quarantine that would later unfold to last many months longer than expected, even spilling over into 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How did I end up spending that extra time? Befriending a wild chipmunk, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn’t take long before my new friend, Pancake, was jumping up onto me and readily accepting gentle pats on the back from a soft-bristled toothbrush. I even tried teaching her, “Sit.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You’re probably wondering how this happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Backstory<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With all the newfound time in my schedule from the imposed quarantine, I thought I’d begin a new backyard project: Rocky’s Ark.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Being locked away at home, I decided to start building “Rocky’s Ark.”<\/strong> The Ark refers to an arc-shaped area of stonework in my backyard that I designated as a new feeding area for animals, inspired by the story of Noah’s Ark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In case COVID brought about the end of civilization as we know it, at least wild animals could come together at the backyard Ark to coexist, intermingle, and feast on an abundance of seeds. For a new tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you may have seen in the month-by-month breakdown of my 2020 Year In Review<\/a>, after April, the Ark eventually was visited by creatures from so many different walks of life. To name a few, we had: woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, cowbirds, grackles, European starlings, titmice, squirrels, and chipmunks! At times, together all at once!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Creating “My Ark” was a special part of the pandemic for me. It allowed me to remain connected with nature during a time when staying home was paramount. So soon after leaving Spain, I was still missing the wild birds I had connected with while traveling so this worked out as a nice solution to continue my connection with nature.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In case you were wondering, the name “Pancake” was chosen randomly. I just thought it sounded cute, like her. I wanted a name that captures how soft and sweet she is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Pancake the Chipmunk (@pancakethechipmunk)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>