I Turned Tree Stumps Into A Chipmunk Village During The Pandemic

Dear Bored Panda,

I’ve lived in this location for more than twenty years and have always interacted with my little woodland fiends that call this place home. I created “The Tree Stump House” during the height of the pandemic, when much of what was coming through the media and my FB feed was negative. I was also spending a lot of time at home, and even working from home. I needed a creative project winter of 2020, something positive with no agenda or purpose other than to be entertaining and put a smile on your face.

I had recently cut down a few large jack pine trees on my property, because they were getting a little too dangerous, some of the stumps left behind were quite large and at first I was just going to have the stumps removed. But then had a thought that I could use them to add a garden feature, so I drew up a sketch and took some measurements of the first stump. With just some scrap material I had laying around the woodshop I created the curved roof for the first house, that Victorian charmer. The goal was to construct a whimsical feeding station for the Eastern Chipmunks that live on the property. The stump was hollowed out with a small cavity to put black oil sunflower seeds in, a favourite food of the chipmunk.

It was a success, in the spring of 2021 as the chipmunks emerged from hibernation and with just a little coaxing they started to use “The Tree Stump House” and I started to photograph them as they moved in and out. The main character was a chipmunk I’d know for a number of years, Rollo Holyfield. I shared some of the cute photos through social media and friends really seamed to enjoy them. Then I decided to add a second home with the adjacent stump and created the Toadstool House. And in the last few years added the Gristmill House with working waterwheel and the Furryfoots Hobbit like house.

Now I’ve started to share the photos and story line through social media with the Facebook page “The Tree Stump House”.

I hope you enjoy.

Best regards

Thomas Cooper

More info: Facebook