Part of my personal gardening philosophy is that I have a moral imperative to share "my" garden with the other animals that live there. I do have exceptions for potentially dangerous animals. No yellow jackets allowed, for example (The Husband is allergic and yellow jackets are too aggressive). But otherwise I live and let live.
My philosophy is sometimes strained. The year we had a sawfly outbreak and their larvae munched on my Aqueligia leaves (columbine) so bad that they actually killed a couple of plants (the Denver Gold was the only the only thing that didn't come back) was rough. But, unlike most of my fellow tool using primates, I restrained from dumping poison into the environment for the sake of aesthetics and most of my Aquelegia came back just fine.
Yes, I am a bit rabid about environmental protection.
This year I have a new challenge.
"Tamias minimus" by Phil Armitage - http://www.philarmitage.net/glacier/glacier08.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Chipmunks. We seems to have a large number of them in our area this year. The Husband (and The Cats) have spotted them in our yard. I've seen several of them in our neighborhood and I've seen the signs in my garden.
It's hard to see but there is a chipmunk hole under the crocus foliage.
Sadly for me chipmunks eat bulbs. So much for my tulips. I guess I'll plant them in pots this winter.
Good for me chipmunks also eat seeds. They can have ALL of the maple seeds they can eat!
It may be a challenge for my garden but my belief system says I need to let them stay. Besides it would be really difficult to get rid of them. I'm a biologist and I understand how niches work. Got a niche? Something will fill it. I get rid of the girl in my garden and someone else will move it.Better a chipmunk than a ground hog or a skunk!
Besides. It entertains the cats.
I would rather have the chipmunks than the voles we have....they did less damage to my garden than the voles and are cuter....I too try to live with nature and keep things in balance.
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