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This brightly colored, conspicuously patterned rodent averages 243 mm (9.6 in) in length. A rusty rump, two buffy to whitish eye stripes, and narrow dark brown to blackish stripes on the back and sides-the lower two on each side bordering a white or buffy white stripe-distinguish the “grinny” or ”ground hackee” (two colloquial names). The grizzled tan upper parts and buffy white under parts are additional characters. The tail, about 93 mm (3.7 in) in length, is moderately furred and slightly flattened. Adults weigh about 80-92 g (2.8-3.2 oz).

Range and Habitat
The range includes much of eastern North America from southern Canada south to the Gulf of Mexico except for parts of the Southeast. In the Adirondacks, where the eastern chipmunk occurs at elevations to 1220 m (4000 ft), it prefers deciduous and mixed forests, and is most abundant in mature (old-growth) hardwoods containing sugar maple, beech, and a relatively open understory.

Within these plant communities, the chipmunks best home is an elaborate maze of inter-connecting tunnels, 4-10 m (12-30 ft) in length and 5 cm (2 in) in diameter. This burrow system usually has one unobstructed entrance with the opening of other tunnels that lead to the surface plugged with leaves. Most tunnels are 45-91 cm (18-36 in) deep, but few penetrate deeper and serve as drains to minimize flooding. A chamber, 15-25 cm (6-10 in) in diameter contains a nest of leaves and several passageways to food galleries. A chipmunk may dig part of the burrow system using its forefeet and cheek pouches to loosen and transport soil, but the renovation of old root channels and existing burrows of other mammals is the primary method of burrow construction. The presence of these pre-formed tunnels may be one of the requirements for a suitable home range.

Food and Feeding Behavior
The chipmunk’s feeding habits reflect the woodland’s seasonal supply of seeds, fruits, nuts, fungi, and tubers. Of this supply, striped, red and sugar maple seeds, beechnuts, the fruit of black cherries, and yellow trout lily bulbs form the bulk of the diet. Chipmunks prefer beechnuts, and can stuff their two internal cheek pouches with as many as 32 of the husked nuts at one time for transport to an underground cache, which by the end of autumn may contain 5000-6000 nuts. When the beechnut crop is poor, rough barked maple trees serve as “ladders” for entry to the canopy of mature beech trees whose smooth bark acts as a barrier to this “ground squirrel”. Once in the canopy, chipmunks locate cluster of beechnuts by sight and then nip them off, returning to the ground a few minutes later to retrieve them. During years of abundant beech mast, nuts are gathered from leaf litter by ground foraging.

Chipmunks are as cute as can be, with their enchanting eyes, bushy tails, striped backs, and chubby cheeks. You may have seen these tiny rodents darting around your yard or nearby woodlands. Or you may know them from Hollywood. Walt Disney introduced his animated chipmunk duo, Chip and Dale, in 1943, and 15 years later, singer Ross Bagdasarian captured America’s heart with three chipmunk brothers—Alvin, Simon, Theodore—singing their musical hit “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).”

Nevertheless, these pudgy-faced charmers are so much more than that. The following chipmunk trivia—touching on everything from their complex personalities and food habits to their social proclivities and living preferences—may just surprise you. Tiny doesn’t always mean simple.

1. They Need About 15 Hours of Sleep Per Day
   At least that’s true of chipmunks in captivity. If their wild cousins require the same amount of snooze time, then all that zippy scampering you see outside has to get done during a nine-hour window each day.
2. They Are a Type of Squirrel
   Weighing in at 1 to 5 ounces (28 to 142 grams), chipmunks are among the most diminutive members of the squirrel family. That means these pocket-sized rodents are also related to woodchucks and prairie dogs, which sharing a branch on the squirrel family tree as well.
3. Most Chipmunks Are in North America
   There are 25 species of chipmunks, ranging mostly from Canada to Mexico across a variety of stomping grounds from forests to deserts to suburban neighborhoods. Only one species, the Siberian chipmunk, makes its home outside North America, scampering over much of northern Asia as well as in Europe, where it was introduced via the pet trade in the 1960s.
4. They Prefer Subterranean Living
   While some chipmunks make nests in logs or bushes, most prefer to dig vast underground burrows. These hidden homes typically include a camouflaged entrance hole, tunnel systems that can stretch 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 meters) long, food storage areas, and a nesting chamber that is kept immaculately clean and lined with leaves and other plant matter.

A study of four yellow pine chipmunk (Eutamias amoenus) populations distributed along a steep environmental gradient in central Oregon revealed differences verifying a prediction of high evolutionary potential at distributional borders of species occupying unstable environments. Population density was lowest on the coniferous forest edge of the ponderosa pine transition zone (Spiders population), highest near the center of the transition zone (Main Grid), and intermediate in populations at the desert periphery of the ponderosa zone (Cabin Lake) and isolated in a disjunct ponderosa forest on the Oregon High Desert (Lost Forest). Attrition of adult @M @M was greatest during the oversummer periods, and was more likely due to predation than to dispersal. Attrition of adult @V @V was greatest during the overwinter periods. During this period, winter food caches may be exhausted before new supplies appear; these shortages, combined with increases in @V energy demand associated with gestation and rearing of young, may have contributed to overwinter starvation. Significantly higher adult @V body weight at the edge of the dense coniferous forest suggests an adaptive response to spring food shortages caused by late snowpacks and by cool weather inhibition of foraging. At the desert edge of the ponderosa forest, increased body weight may instead be an adaptive response to spring food shortages resulting from fewer seed—producers and from competition with least chipmunks (Eutamias minimus). Competitive advantage among chipmunks is commonly associated with larger size, and E. amoenus @M @M at Lost Forest, which were nearest to E. minimus in body weight, showed the greatest increase over central population weights. Observations at the Main Grid, Cabin Lake and Lost Forest showed behavioral characteristics of the populations to be generally similar, although significant populational differences in activity budgeting were observed. Higher population density at the Main Grid led to a much higher level of positive social interactions with a much higher percentage of aggressive chasing and fighting than at other sites. At Cabin Lake weather had a strong influence on activity budgeting and habitat orientation. Lost Forest chipmunks exhibited a greater proportion of protective behavior (especially alarm vocalizations), suggesting an adaptation by which the population may reduce danger from predation due to low protective cover without restricting the daerah over which individuals may safely forage. This same population appeared to have adjusted activity budgets to avoid high desert temperatures by foraging more in early hours and orienting more toward the shade of trees and shrubs in later hours.

The Eastern Chipmunk is the only species of chipmunk found in this area. They are a very important part of the deciduous forest ecosystem, acting as seed dispersers, predators of plants and small animals, and abundant prey themselves.

Chipmunks are rodents and members of the squirrel family (sciurids). Eastern Chipmunks, in particular, are large among the chipmunk family, are usually reddish-brown with distinct black stripes running down their backs and white stripes above and below their eyes. Between these stripes, the fur may be brown, tan, or white. They have a lighter underbelly. Chipmunks are similar to most rodents in that they have five toes on the rear feet, but only four on the front. One feature, however, that makes chipmunks stand out is their large cheeks, which are usually used to carry food and can stretch to three times the size of their head. Including the tail, chipmunks are normally 20-25 cm long (8-10 in).

Chipmunks typically live in long, shallow burrows in the ground which can reach thirty feet in length and three feet in depth. They prefer areas near rocky crevasses or decaying wood; one will rarely find chipmunks in deeply forested areas with little sunlight. Chipmunks generally have multiple exits and entrances to their burrows, which they conceal with leaves or rocks. Fairly unusually among squirrel-relatives (sciurids), they actually transport their waste soil from the digging of their burrows away from the mouth of their burrows to further conceal the entrance.Eastern Chipmunk

Although chipmunks are usually solitary, during mating season there can be considerable competition between males for desirable females. For chipmunks, there are two mating seasons: February-April and June-August. About one month after a female has been impregnated, she will bear a litter of as many as nine babies (average 4-5) which, when born, are furless, blind, and about the size of bumblebees. The young usually do not leave the safety of the burrow until they are six weeks old, at which age they become independent. They will become sexually mature in one year, and live for only one or two years more. It is estimated that, out of the total population of eastern chipmunks at any given time, 50% of them were born that same year.

Although many sciurids hibernate during the wintertime, chipmunks do not practice “true hibernation.” They do not gain weight before the onset of winter; instead, every few weeks in the wintertime, they awake and “snack” on their stores of food stashed in different chambers of their burrows. They have even been known to come outside and forage for short periods during the winter when the weather is milder. Although chipmunks’ winter stores typically consist mostly of nuts and seeds, during the summertime they additionally consume mushrooms, fruits, berries, insects, bird eggs, and occasionally small vertebrates.

Despite chipmunks’ agility and speed taking refuge in their burrows, they frequently become prey for foxes, owls, hawks, raccoons, weasels, and snakes. They communicate with each other through a wide range of vocalizations, including the chip chip chip for which they are named. Chipmunks are thought to have excellent senses of vision, hearing, and smell.

When you think of chipmunks, what’s your first reaction? “Awwww!” or “Arrgghh!”? While you may not be enamored with them in your garden, you might grudgingly admit these bright-eyed little creatures can be endearing. Animators surely find them entertaining, as evidenced by films like Alvin plus the Chipmunks. They are most certainly important to our ecosystem.

The true story of these continually busy creatures—foraging for food, building burrows, stockpiling provisions for the winter months spent underground, raising young—is amazing reality. Take their burrows, for instance. “Chipmunks have a complicated burrow system,” says wildlife educator plus rehabilitator Carlton Burke of Carolina Mountain Naturalists. They have specialized chambers for everything “with storage chambers for food such as acorns plus seeds gathered in autumn, plus other specialized chambers for sleeping, giving birth, plus even a chamber that is used as a toilet.” Baby chipmunks are nursed by the mother underground plus left there if she needs to go above ground for any reason. They nurse for about three weeks before they are weaned plus begin to eat solid food. Not long after that the young chipmunks start to venture above ground.

Spotting a chipmunk’s burrow may be hard, says Burke. “They never leave a pile of dirt at the entrance. They scatter it around so that the entrance is not easily seen. Many chipmunks have several scattered entrances into their burrows, so when a predator or something else frightens them, they run plus disappear into the ground through the closest hole they have made.”

Their “digs” are only meant for one chipmunk family. No Airbnbs allowed. “Eastern chipmunks are solitary plus territorial,” says Andrea Shipley, M.S., mammalogist for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. “They do not live in colonies. If an Eastern chipmunk were to be released in an daerah where it came from originally, it would likely come into conflict with the resident chipmunk of that daerah plus be forced to live transiently before being able to set up a new home range of its own. Like many mammals, Eastern chipmunks have a strong homing instinct. Relocation of mammals with a strong homing instinct is not recommended because of the potential conflict relocating to a new daerah can cause.”

Chipmunks are rodents that are a tipe of squirrel. These small, furry animals are identified by their stubby legs, bushy tails and the white, black and brown stripes that run down their backs.

Size
Chipmunks are the smallest members of the squirrel family, according to National Geographic. The biggest species of chipmunk is the Eastern chipmunk. It grows to 11 inches (28 centimeters) and weighs up to 4.4 ounces (125 grams).

Chipmunks typically grow to around 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) and weigh 1 to 5 ounces (28 to 142 g). Their tails can grow as long as 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 cm).

Habitat
There are 25 species of chipmunk, according to National Geographic. Only one of those species, called the Siberian chipmunk, lives outside of North America. The Siberian chipmunk lives in Asia and is expanding into parts of Europe, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In North America, chipmunks can be found almost anywhere there are trees.

Chipmunks make homes for themselves by creating burrows that consist of an underground tunnel system or by making nests in logs or bushes. Their tunnel systems can be 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9.1 m) long.

Habits
Though you may see chipmunks around each other, they are not social animals. They like to keep to themselves and only interact during mating season, which is in the spring.

They are most active at dusk and dawn. Chipmunks spend most of their days foraging. A single chipmunk can gather up to 165 acorns in a day, according to National Geographic Kids.

Chipmunks hibernate, but they don’t store fat to see them through long winters like bears do. During the warm months, chipmunks will stuff extra food into their cheek pouches. These cheeks are massive grocery bags. They can stretch to be three times larger than the chipmunk’s head, according to Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. When they have a full load, they lift the food to their home and store it. During the winter, they eat from their food cache for energy.

During hibernation, chipmunks can seem like they are dead. Their heart rates can drop from 350 beats per minute to around 4 beats per minute, and their body temperature can drop from 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius) to as cold as 40 F (4.44 C), according to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

The Eastern Chipmunk, one of Pennsylvania’s best known mammals, is closely related to the
squirrels and is a member of the squirrel family, Sciuridae. Chipmunks are common throughout
the state, common enough to be known by numerous nicknames such as grinny, chippie, hackle or rock squirrel.
Their scientific name describes both their behavior and their most-pronounced physical feature.
“Tamias” means collector or keeper of provisions and “striatus” refers to their prominent body
stripes. Chipmunks sometimes look like they have puffy cheeks filled with food, and they do.
They have pouches, which are used for carrying food or even soil they have dug out of burrows, on the inside of their cheeks. Running along their back and sides are alternating dark and
cream stripes. Stripes outline each eye, too. Adults are about 10 inches long, including a fourinch furred tail. Both male and female are the same color and weight, about two ounces.
Chipmunks are diurnal, especially active in early morning and late afternoon. But in hot
weather, chipmunks will go underground to cool off. This mid-summer rest is called estivation. Chipmunks are active in winter, but how active is up for debate. Some research says
most chipmunks become torpid or inactive for at least part of the winter, while other knowledge suggests that merely a third became torpid.

Admit it. They’re cute. With a small round head, prominent black eyes,
tiny ears and short legs, chipmunks are as welcome a sight in backyards
as they are digemari banyak orang as cartoon and movie characters.
Chipmunks are graceful and quick, darting into underground burrows
when startled. Their short, bushy tails are held straight up when
they run, and they whistle sharply when frightened. Although they
are terrestrial, they will sometimes climb trees. They can hear and see
quite well and characteristically sit upright while eating or surveying
their surroundings.
Their broad, chisel-shaped incisors are typical of rodents but chipmunks
are considered omnivores, eating just about any kind of vegetation as
well as feeding on small mammals, birds or their eggs, earthworms,
snails, even small reptiles or amphibians. Each hind foot has 5
clawed toes; each forefoot has 4 clawed toes and a 5th, thumb-like
digit.

Ah, our dear, sweet, beloved chipmunks. We feed them and watch them scurry off, diving down a hole perfectly shaped to their stocky bodies, disappearing for a few minutes and coming back for more. This game seems endless and always has me wondering what they’re doing with all that seed, and what it looks like inside of that mysterious hole. When I think of the inside of a chipmunk’s burrow, I envision it to look identical to Smaug’s Lair in the Hobbit, only instead of gold and jewels, it’s filled with peanuts and seed “pillaged” from my bird feeders. But a chipmunk’s burrow is much more complex than just a giant heap of goodies, and involves some serious planning in order to survive.

Though chipmunks are known for being bold and even friendly when it comes to their relationship with humans, they live a life of solitude. Each chipmunk has its own burrow and home range, never living communally. Even during mating season (mid-April to mid-May), the pairings take place outside of the female’s burrow, and she raises the young alone. A chipmunk’s home range is the tempat surrounding its burrow, where it travels to forage for food, water, and to seek out potential mates during breeding season. Home ranges can vary in size between 0.04 and 1.26 hectares, with males typically having larger ranges than females. These areas do not strictly belong to one chipmunk, and frequently overlap with several individuals. When crossing each other’s paths in their home ranges, chipmunks will usually tolerate one another and go about their business alone.

The burrow is where a chipmunk’s dominance and territorial behaviours come into play. There is nomer overlap of territory in these areas, and if one chipmunk comes within close proximity to another chipmunk’s burrow, the owner will pursue and chase the intruder away from its home. Chipmunks use scent marks to mark their territory and communicate to others that a certain space is their dominance area. When a chipmunk is near another individual’s burrow, it will typically avoid the area, but some may wander a little too close for comfort for the owner resulting in an exchange of words, a chase, and occasionally, a scuffle.

Buying or selling a chipmunk is illegal
In July 2016, the European Commission published the first list of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern, which came into force on 3 August 2016. Siberian chipmunks are included, meaning that it’s now illegal to buy or sell a chipmunk. We’re also unable to rehome them to private individuals. Read more information on what these regulations mean for you if you’re a current chipmunk owner.

You can keep an existing chipmunk
Chipmunks have only been kept as pets for a relatively short time and experts are still learning about how best to care for them. Chipmunks usually live for four to five years in captivity, but can live for up to 10 years meaning there may be a few pets still in homes today.

If you currently own a chipmunk as a pet, it’s legal to keep your chipmunk until the end of their natural life, but you’re unable to buy or breed another.

A chimpmunk’s natural habitat
Siberian chipmunks come from Siberia and Asia, while the eastern American species come from the northern USA and Canada. There are more than 20 different species of chipmunk living in these regions and as far south as Mexico. However, it’s Siberian chipmunks that have been more commonly kept as pets.

Active throughout the day, these small, stripy creatures live on the ground, where they like to dig burrows where they make their nests. Energetic climbers, chipmunks can also be seen foraging in trees and bushes. If you’re keeping pet chipmunks, try to ensure their home allows them to replicate these behaviours.

Chipmunks can be tricky to care for, as they often don’t like to be handled and can easily become stressed. However, with the right environment, you can help ensure your chipmunk can behave naturally and live a healthy and happy life.

Did You Know?
Chipmunks are rodents.
Chipmunks stomp their feet plus wave their tails to protect their territories.
Positive Benefits
Chipmunks help play a role in soil aeration with their burrowing activity. They are also an important part of the food web, since they are prey for hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes, snakes, plus many other species.

Description & Identification
Chipmunks are one of four ground squirrels found in Illinois. The others are the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, Franklin’s ground squirrel, plus the woodchuck.

The eastern chipmunk is the smallest Illinois ground squirrel, weighing 2 to 5 ounces plus being 8 to 12 inches in length. Eastern chipmunks have conspicuous light plus dark stripes on their back, sides, plus cheeks. The fur on their upper parts is reddish-brown, with rust color on their rump plus flanks. The belly plus sides are buff to white. Their small ears are rounded plus erect. The tail is covered with fur, but it is not bushy plus is somewhat flattened. Chipmunks have internal cheek pouches that are used to transport food or excavated soil. The chipmunk does not hibernate. Because they have limited digging ability, they often burrow under rocks, logs, or buildings.

Distribution & Abundance
Eastern chipmunks occur throughout Illinois where there is suitable habitat, although they appear to be absent in the southeastern counties. They are often abundant where they occur in Illinois.

Behavior & Ecological Role
Chipmunks are diurnal, meaning that they are active during the day.

All ground squirrels are solitary; however, since chipmunks are not very territorial, many may be seen in close proximity, particularly if there is a good supply of food at that location.

Chipmunks play an important role in soil aeration plus help condition the soil for plant growth. Their body wastes contribute to the organic structure of the soil.

Chipmunks are an important part of the food web, being preyed upon by several species of bird, mammal, plus snake.

Diseases & Public Health
Chipmunks do not pose a public health concern.

Habitat & Food
Eastern chipmunks live in wooded areas. They prefer woodland borders rather than deep forests, particularly sloped areas with plenty of woody underbrush. But they are common in more urban areas as well.

Eastern chipmunks feed primarily on nuts, seeds, fruits, fungi, flowers, plus buds. They cache (store) their food in their burrows. During the summer, chipmunks will also eat invertebrates such as beetles, grasshoppers, plus spiders.

Reproduction & Longevity
Like tree squirrels, the eastern chipmunk has two breeding seasons, one in spring plus the other in summer. Chipmunk gestation is 31 days, with two to six young per litter. Chipmunks are weaned at six weeks of age.