Of Mice Chipmunks and Men

The Hopi Chipmunk.

These little guys are everywhere; this particular one was found at Partition Arch. He approached us as we were taking a break in the cool shade. He, no doubt, could recognize the sight of hikers pulling out lunch sacks and sandwiches, as he quickly began to move in closer and closer to where we were sitting for our lunch break. At one point, I literally could have reached out and handed him a piece of granola bar. Tempting, but illegal.

This is a common regulation posted in National Parks. The animals need to be able to feed themselves, otherwise they will become dependent upon humans for handouts and could harm their natural way of life (or in the case of bears and other large animals, could present danger to humans).

After realizing that the intern drive-thru was closed, the little Hopi chipmunk scampered over to some European tourists and started looking as cute as ever. Sure enough, the family dug out some Funyuns and began holding little pieces out in the palm of their hand. Drive-thru now open, would you like fries with that?

Not being on duty or in uniform, we couldn't exactly tell them to stop, but we could still voice our concern as fellow lovers of the park. We donned our packs and gently walked over to the feeding session, harmlessly scaring off the chipmunk, and with smiles on our faces said, "Hey, that doesn't look like chipmunk food!"

They managed a brief chuckle, and as soon as we passed by, the Funyun hand stretched out once again.

I wished them luck, knowing that we also have bears and mountain lions in the area.