When Paul and Christie Pierce took an experimental, fun shot of a chipmunk in their yard, little did they know it would spark an incredible photo series.
The couple who live just outside Spokane, Washington, were at a casino night when they came across some tiny playing cards being used as drink tickets. Since they had a small chipmunk population in their yard, they joked it would be amusing to try and stage a picture of one with the little props.
“One particular chipmunk would eat out of our hand,” Christie, 67, told The Epoch Times. “His name was Mr. Stubbs because he had half a tail. He was pretty tolerant of us and we thought, well, let’s see if we can make it look like Mr. Stubbs is playing cards.”
The couple taped the cards together, placed some seeds onto the tape, and lo and behold: it worked.
“We started 100 percent by accident. I’m not a photographer. I consider myself a chipmunk wrangler.”
Christie, a retired nurse, was thrilled at the joyous reaction the pictures provoked when she showed them to friends and family. And the pair started doing more things with their chipmunks, realizing that they can get more creative with these furry creatures.
That was in 2012, and since then Paul and Christie have created the most captivating miniature sets to showcase the antics of their chipmunk friends. In one camping scene, a furry creature appears to be cooking a hotdog over a campfire. In a barbershop scene, another is preparing a customer for a cut.
A gardening scene features an industrious chipmunk filling a wheelbarrow with cabbages, and in a poker scene, one is considering his next move. The possibilities are endless, but take a lot of imagination, patience, and skill. It helps that Paul, a former electrical engineer, is a whizz at making models, Christie said.
“Paul used to build miniatures as a kid, and he’s very talented that way,“ she said. ”And being an electrical engineer, he’s really picky. He loves building miniatures. So then fast forward all those years, and we ended up with this shared passion.”
So entertaining are the resulting shots, that the ingenious pair have even started a kitchen table business selling cute calendars and funny greeting cards. There’s absolutely no Photoshopping involved. Christie insists she’s not a photographer, as she just uses a point-and-shoot, pocket camera.
Currently working on the ninth calendar, Christie says the secret to their success is simple: playful innocence and humor, entirely free of politics or the harsher side of life.
“You can’t have a bad thought in your head when you’re looking at one of these images.”
Selling on the craft show circuit, she says, people go crazy.
Christie said: “I’m the chipmunk lady, and people come to my booth and laugh and hug and chat and bring me little items. Some people buy 10 or 20 calendars to give out as presents. Some people say, ‘Oh, I bought all these cards, but I can’t send them because they’re too cute.’
“I’m kind of addicted to people’s reactions.”
The unique creative pursuit has also provided a welcome escape following Christie’s battle with breast cancer after a 2019 diagnosis.
“That screwed things up for a while,” she said. But helped by the joy of friendship and my local diehard customers, I still have a business.”
Advanced engineering students from a local school stepped in to make some props, and “the kids really got into it; they made me some really neat stuff.”
“The set direction is half the fun,” Christie said. “You’ve had a ton of fun before you even go outside to do anything.”
Building a set can take countless hours, such as the time they constructed the miniature chips for the poker set, punching teeny holes in paper before painstakingly coloring it in. Rather than running out to buy materials, the couple repurpose whatever they have around them to fashion what they need.
The next challenge is setting a trail of bait for the chipmunks to follow.
“I don’t train them to do anything,” Christie said. “My feeding strategy is almost like a cartoon trap; hopefully they keep eating and following the seed. Once they get into the set, I have a bait to get them closer to where I want them.”
If Christie has one dream shot, what would it be?
“I had a mama squirrel bring her baby over one time. If you could get a mama chipmunk to bring a baby over that would make a once-in-a-lifetime shot. That’s my challenge,” she said,
Check out more of these fun photos below!
