A dignified death for a chipmunk. Yes, a chipmunk!

Nature recently allowed my two friends and me to witness an extraordinary moment-a chipmunk suicide. If I did not have them both as witnesses, I probably would be reluctant to even tell anyone about it, because it sounds nuts. While I usually write from a humorous angle, this story was too sad and moving to joke about.

On Friday night at 6 p.m. we observed from a distance a creature on the beach flip flopping about as if it was a fish out of water. Upon closer observation, we saw it was a chipmunk, who was obviously suffering from some kind of neurological disease. He was twitching and couldn’t walk, but could still maneuver himself on the rocks with a cork screw-like motion, alternating with flip flopping his way along. And this is just what he did for almost two hours as he moved his way across 50-feet of rocky north shore beach towards the water, taking breaks to rest.

When we first saw the chipmunk he was about halfway to the water. We kept our distance at first because we could see he was obviously ill. At first we thought maybe he was rabid, but after watching I do not think that was the case. He was very focused on moving towards the water. If he had been rabid, I believe he would have been more erratic in his behavior.

We had no choice but to helplessly watch him, since we couldn’t euthanize him, and besides, who are we to judge if this was the best thing?

We kept an eye on him, without getting too close. It took him over an hour and half to make it to the water’s edge and sure enough, he flip flopped into the water and the small waves washed over him and he drowned.

What could possibly explain a small little creature’s drive to crawl over 50 feet, determined to do away with itself? We humans think we are the only creatures with a complex thought process but obviously this little chipmunk had some instinctually understanding that it needed to end its life. Did it know it was infectious to others? Was it in such pain that it needed to end it? How did it know that the water would end its life?

Other animals like elephants, horses and dogs have been documented to commit suicide, but a chipmunk? Their brains must be miniscule, but their instincts must be enormous. I actually cried when that little guy went under the gentle waves. He seemed dignified and very courageous, in a crazy way. What a journey he made!

I tried researching unusually chipmunk behavior or diseases and came up with two possible ones:  West Nile Virus, which can cause neurological symptoms such as head tilting, lethargy, and lack of coordination and death and Baylisascaris procyonis, a parasite that can cause fatal or severe neurological disease. Or could it have been some toxic poisoning from lawn chemicals?

While these might explain the symptoms, I would like to know if an animal behaviorist could explain an apparent chipmunk suicide. Any ideas or comments?