Search for the Elusive Chipmunk

 For the past several weeks, a tiny picnic table has been sitting right outside my front door. It was carefully placed there by my neighbor, 7 year old Fiona. On top of it is a selection of raisins and other edibles in the hopes that it will lure the chipmunk who runs rapidly across my porch several times a day. Although I see the chipmunk through my screen door, Fiona has yet to be here at the right time.

Here at Prairie Hill, we are getting used to seeing Fiona walking around with all her observation accouterments: binoculars, bug spray, notebook and pen, bird whistle, and flashlight. We know that she is a big fan of Jane Goodall, and it is easy to think of her as the Nature Girl. One day there was a baby rabbit looking in at my front door, and I called Fiona over. She came promptly and was politely attentive, but I realized that a baby rabbit, no matter how enchanting it was to me, was not what she was looking for. I decided to find out more, and I asked her over to my porch for a real interview. She brought her tool belt of observation helpers and sat on my porch swing, with her miniature picnic table between us, while I asked her questions.

I found out that though wildlife in general is OK with her, it is chipmunks that are her real passion. She has never seen one except in pictures, and she is doing her best to get a good look at a real one. She admitted that once in the past she was particularly fascinated with groundhogs since they were rooting around near her former home. And interestingly, she never was able to actually see one of them either, just the disturbances they left behind. She also admitted that seeing a live blue jay would make her happy, and that she'd once attracted a hawk with her bird whistle, which she blew for me. Yet chipmunks are her passion right now. They are just too fast, she said. But she isn't giving up!

I wondered how Jane Goodall fit into this picture, for I'd heard that Fiona was strongly influenced by her. Fiona told me about how Jane was given a toy chimpanzee when she was 2 years old, and still she carries it with her, a lifetime symbol of the animal she came to study. Instead of a chimp, Fiona studies chipmunks, another singular animal focus. I asked her what else she liked about Jane Goodall, and she replied "She makes me feel hopeful. She actually cares." I'd heard about some sort of club that Jane has organized for children, and Fiona explained that it's for future scientists. Oh, I said. Do you think you might be a future scientist? She paused, gave me a shy smile, and nodded her head.