Chipmunks

All About Chipmunks

By Madison Nef

Chipmunks are a type of ground squirrel. There are 25 species of chipmunks- 24 of them originate from North America, and the remaining one from Asia. Chipmunks live in deciduous forests, woodlands, shrubs and in gardens. They are considered to be pests and nuisances to farmers, as they dig burrows in the ground, eat crops and ruin farmland.

Chipmunks are threatened by habitat loss due to trees being cut down all over to make way for housing, factories and many other public structures. Palmer's chipmunk is on the list of vulnerable species, with a high risk of becoming endangered in the near future.

Chipmunks are the smallest members of the squirrel family. The smallest species has 1.1 to 1.8 ounces of weight and reaches 7.2 to 8.5 inches in length, while the largest species can reach 4.4 ounces of weight and 11 inches in length. They are covered with red or grayish-brown fur with light and dark stripes on their back, sides and head. Their defining features are their long fluffy tails, which can reach anywhere from 3-5 inches in length depending on the breed of chipmunk.

Unlike other squirrels, chipmunks live mainly in the underground burrows. These burrows can be up to 30 feet long and 3 feet wide. All burrows are divided in several sections: nursery, food storing chamber and a resting area. The burrows are always tidy, as chipmunks are orderly animals, and the entrance to these burrows are always well hidden under stumps, leaves, and other wildlife. Chipmunks spend the coldest parts of the year in these burrows, eating from their stores of food. They only leave if they have to.

Because of their tiny size, chipmunks have a lot of predators. Some such predators include hawks, owls, weasels, bobcats, raccoons and coyotes. Chipmunks themselves are omnivores, eating both animal and plant based food. Often they will eat seeds, nuts, berries, fruit and fungi; but they will also eat insects, frogs and eggs. Plant-based food is their normal choice, however.

Chipmunks are solitary creatures that spend majority of time in collecting and storing the food for the upcoming winter. They use their large cheek pouches to collect, transport and store food in their burrows. These pouches can increase to 3 times larger than the chipmunk’s head, providing a lot of storage space. One chipmunk alone can collect up to 8 pounds of food per year by scavenging in the warmer months.

Chipmunks are also very territorial animals. They require territory of up to ½ acre to live and hunt comfortably. In the case of intruders, chipmunks will fiercely defend territory around their burrows- mainly because collecting food is hard and they barely get enough to make it through winter to begin with. Losing food AND  a home to a predator would be a shame.

They are very vocal animals. They produce bird-like noises that can be heard in the case of near danger and during the mating season, when female wants to attract males. The chipmunk’s mating season lasts from February to April. Females attract males using their mating call (as mentioned above) and can give birth to anywhere from 2 to 6 babies. At birth, baby chipmunks are the size of bumblebees. They are blind, completely stripped of fur and dependent on the care of their parents.

Both parents take care of the babies. Young chipmunks mature quickly and are almost fully grown and ready to leave the burrow at the age of 6 weeks. While they can scavenge, make homes and essentially fend for themselves at this young age, they do not reach their reproductive age until they are one year old. In the wild, a chipmunk usually only lives for about 2-3 years.