Fodder for Pale Male?

In regard to the news of a chipmunk in Central Park, frequent correspondent Bill Trankle of Indianapolis wrote:

Marie,

It seems Central Park is certainly not static; quite amazing considering it is completely surrounded by dense urban infrastructure. To that point, you mentioned in your squib that chipmunks are found in many other NYC parks, and I was curious if you knew what the distance is from Central Park to the nearest park where chipmunks are common. Even a distance of a few blocks would be an amazing migration for a tiny rodent that would be completely exposed during most of the trip, and if it's a distance much greater than that it becomes unfathomable. It raises all sorts of questions like why did it leave its original environs in the first place--it's not like there's a chipmunk version of Mapquest where they could see, "Hey, 10 blocks southeast of us is the promised land." It reminds me of the ancient Polynesians leaving their homes to travel thousands of miles of ocean to a speck of land that they somehow "knew" was there. Anyway, best of luck--a healthy chipmunk population would give PM and his progeny yet another diurnal food source, if they're quick enough to get 'em!


I answered:

I agree. That's why I firmly believe that neither of these handsome critters got to the park under its own steam. Dumped pets, I'd say.