Wondering about chipmunk behavior, will this endanger its life?

[wannahelp]

I have two indoor cats, who sit by the front windows overlooking a plant bed. Yesterday, a chipmunk jumped up onto the outer window frame and as my cat scratched at the window, the chipmunk stood on hind legs and interacted with my cat. I tapped on the window with my fingers and it followed and responded similarly, even climbing up the window screen. It came back several times and even hung out on the outer frame for a while.

I don't know anything about chipmunk behavior. I don't know if this response was threatened, scared, friendly or other. I also worry that this could hurt its chances of survival, as there are outdoor and stray cats in the neighborhood. Perching on my window sill will make it vulnerable to predators.

It almost seemed like it wanted to come inside. Although what happened was very cute and my instinct was to want to go outside and feed it, I don't want to do anything to endanger its life.
What is the best thing to do to help ensure the survival of this chipmunk?

[Snowy]

Your chippie sounds curious. He may not feel your cats are a threat because they are on the other side of the glass and he can't smell them. I will often move my cat to a different window when the squirrels come to visit, just to be on the safe side. Like you, I don't want them getting too comfortable around cats.

Our fuzzy friends are pretty darn smart though. I have two small dogs and an enclosed outdoor kennel. The squirrels know the dogs can't get to them and I'd swear the squirrels actually tease the dogs. Dogs will bark up a storm and the squirrels sit in the trees right above calmly eating.

I probably wouldn't be able to resist giving him some food in a safe location. Unfortunately there are predators everywhere, so no matter where he goes, hopefully his chippie instincts will keep him safe.

[astra]

Welcome!
And it is so nice when someone like you cares about the safety of these little guys.

Are you concerned that if you start feeding this chippie, it may endanger his life?

Your concerns are valid.

Some locations are better for feeding them and others - worse.
E.g., In my old place it was almost perfect.
Where I currently live - far from: traffic, raccoons, animal-unfriendly people (that I know of, and who knows how many of such folk that I do not know of), TON of birds of prey and, of course, outdoor cats. So, as much as I often felt tempted, I do not feed anyone where I live right now.

So, you need to assess your location, how safe it is.
Are you neighbours generally ok with sqs and chippies? Or will they get upset if they start seeing more of these guys? Because if they start coming to your place, they WILL check out neighbours, too. THere have been a number of situations when people here had to stop feeding b/c neighbors were getting upset.
And definitely - all the strays and other predators.

As for this particular chippie, this is not very typical, imo.
Granted, chippies and sqs are generally very curious creatures.
But also, from what i observed, chippies tend to be much more skittish than sqs UNLESS they know for sure you are safe.
He may have been spooked and hence jumped onto your window.
OR, he could be a young guy, still curious with not enough experience to be extra cautious.

If you do want to feed him (or other sqs) - choose a more or less safe spot, which would mean by/under a tree, or under some kind of cover. A tree will provide them with a "roof" more or less to cover from preying birds, and a route of escape of the ground predators.
Just don't feed them out in an open space.
So, if you have a nice backyard tree, you could leave some food for them there. Just do not leave anything at night (clean it up for the night), or raccoons will become a problem.

Another thing I remember some ppl did - see if you can figure out where this chippie is coming from (what direction, maybe, even his little hole, or rock etc), and you can leave some food right by his "house."

So, definitely assess your location and go from there.

[CritterMom]

Oh dear. My chippies regularly follow me into the house and clearly understand what a refrigerator is for! My experience is that they are very bold little things, especially once they have scoped you out and determined that you are not a scary thing. Find a safe spot near some rocks that he can dive into if needed and leave him some chow!