Chip was particularly insolent and cocky this morning, he popped up almost underneath Bud’s nose and squeaked at him before diving back down inside the stone wall.

Bud charged and stuck his nose so deep into the hole I was worried he might get stuck.

With his head buried in the stone wall, Bud could not see what I saw, which was Chip popping up out of a different hole in the stone wall a few yards away.

Chip didn’t pause to taunt Bud, which he usually does, but instead, he took off for the fence behind Bud and squirted right through it.

Bud head the leaves rustling and turned his head (photo) just in time to see Chip squeak at him from the other side of the fence and vanish in a pile of leaves and brush.

Chip has a long-term strategy, Bud lives in the moment. He doesn’t do strategy, he does hunt and chase.

Chip shows himself often on his wall, but whenever Bud arrives in a feverish hush, Chip vanishes and pops up somewhere else. Can a chipmunk be arrogant? The Chip in Chip N’ Dale was.

I know little about chipmunks, but this guy is either playing with Bud or taunting him, giving him the chipmunk equivalent of the finger.

I think Bud is having a blast, and he’s one of those dogs who loves to chase things but doesn’t really seem to want to catch them, much like Fate and her sheep.

Bud is making no headway at all in this chase, but he never gets discouraged or loses interest. I hope Chip doesn’t get too lazy.