Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A Chipmunk Question

The chipmunk living in the raised beds used to be cute. We'd find a pile of raspberry seeds on the stone wall, a tomato skin and seeds on the other side of the herb garden, but today I counted 21 tomatoes on the ground with just tiny nibbles missing. That chipmunk is getting just as many tomatoes as we are. At times like these, we really miss the cat. We never realized how many small animals he kept away. We think a bobcat got him. That chipmunk may be a marked mammal.

A question: what precipitated his change from a clean-your-plate rodent to profligate-tomato-waster? And while we're at it, here are some other questions that have entered my mind recently:
  • Does the wind ever blow something out of the ground roots and all?
  • Why is pre-lightning air greenish?
  • Are there advantages to fallow fields besides postponing degradation?
  • Where was George McGovern from?
  • How does male eyesight differ from female eyesight?
  • What does "uff da" mean?
  • Why don't classic sermons get read more often?
  • What is ear candling?
  • What is the difference between "regardless" and "irregardless"?
  • Why are samovars so big?
  • Are flowers more fragrant in dry places?
  • Are all northern races blue-eyed?
  • Why is there a fire in the chimney at the gas plant?
  • If IQ is mental age divided by chronological age, shouldn't we get dumber as we get older?
  • What difference would it make if mosquitoes were eliminated?
  • If you put Japanese beetles into a jar of water and they crawl over eachother to get to the top, are there beetles at the bottom who are self-sacrificing enough to not crawl?

If you have any thoughts on these questions, let me know.

Sue

2 comments:

KJBLS said...

I think "irregardless" is ungrammatical. To quote the oh-so-respectable Wikipedia: "The origin of irregardless is not known for certain, but the consensus among references is that it is a blend of irrespective and regardless, both of which are commonly accepted standard English words. By blending these words, an illogical word is created."

Very impressed by your regular posting--in fact, you are inspiring me to start blogging again!

Paul said...

dully impressed with your blogging mom. keep it up. we mentioned your site to mike&tegani today, and will continue to recommend it to our other friends! :-)

to try and answer a question: isn't part of the idea of allowing fields to lay fallow to allow the nutrients to rebuild in the soil for the year? i thought that if left fallow 25% of the time, land use is sustainable?