Rodent Spotlight: Chipmunk

Although closely related to their squirrel cousins, the chipmunk is easy to differentiate. For one, the chipmunk's tail is not as showy. That is not to say that the rodent had a failure of a tail--far from it in fact. I always found the chipmunk tail to be cute in its own way. I believe it has something to do with how the stripes on their back flow right into it. Does that seem like a peculiar observation? If it does, you may forget how often I consider things like this--even on a daily basis.

I love rodents, and I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge a North American species that has gotten so much notoriety. Now, I have not written anything of them personally... yet, but you must imagine by now that I have an opinion about them.

Let us first begin with the two Disney characters that have scurried into the hearts of people since 1943: Chip and Dale! What is not to love about these guys? In the olden days, they were just two woodland chipmunks trying to save up food for the winter when someone like Donald Duck would come and just mess everything up for them. This, naturally, gave them the supreme moral authority to get revenge on the duck and enjoy every moment of it in the process. Similar formulas have been accomplished within other franchises, but in this case, everyone almost always sided with Chip and Dale mainly because they felt that Donald Duck deserved the punishment. The hilarity of the duo was how much fun they seemed to have in obtaining their revenge. This showed itself as they would reenact their deed in pantomime followed by a bout of adorable laughter.

Later these two characters would be re-imagined in the show "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" where they would team up with two mice and a housefly to do good deeds around the city. I enjoyed how they expanded much on the personalities of the characters. Chip was cast as the more level headed sleuth, and Dale was the more carefree and silly one of the bunch. This is how it always was for the two, but the personalities came out far more clearly in the new show.

In 1958, we were introduced to the still famous musical group "Alvin and the Chipmunks" when a creative genius by the name of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. released a song called "Witch Doctor." It was the beginning of a long career for these guys, and it spawned a couple of TV series as well as a lot of films. Now, I'll be honest: I never really thought the lil guys looked anything remotely like chipmunks. This was later remedied with the new movies, and I wholeheartedly saw it as a major improvement to their looks. Regardless of how you saw it, they WERE chipmunks, and they belong in the hall of rodent fame for it.

I'll say it again: I love their cute, little tails. I also like the designer racing stripes that run down their backs. To me, chipmunks seem to be as frisky and playful as their squirrel cousins, but I see them as being a bit more levelheaded from a fictional standpoint. Squirrels have a tendency towards trouble, but chipmunks seem like they will just go about their business unless otherwise molested. They do seem to have the capacity to form into teams and take on anyone who would give them trouble. Don't believe me? Just ask Chip and Dale what they think about it.

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