Eastern Chipmunk
Tamias
striatus
Description
Reddish brown above; belly white. 1
white stripe bordered by 2 black stripes on sides; stripes end at
rump. 2 white stripes on back much thinner than side stripes. Dark
center stripe down back; pale facial stripes above and below eyes.
Tail brown on tip, edged with black. Prominent ears. L 8 1/2–11 3/4"
(215–299 mm); T 3 1/8–4 3/8" (78–113 mm); HF 1 1/4–1 1/2" (32–38
mm); Wt 2 1/4–5 oz (66–139 g).
Similar Species
Least Chipmunk has 4 white
stripes of equal width on back.
Breeding
Mates in early spring; 1 litter per year
of 3–5 young born in May. First-year females not breeding in early
spring may produce a litter late July–August.
Habitat
Open deciduous woodlands, forest edges,
brushy areas, bushes and stone walls in cemeteries and around
houses.
Range
Southeastern Canada and ne U.S. east from
North Dakota and e Oklahoma, and south to Mississippi, nw South
Carolina, and Virginia.
Discussion
The Eastern Chipmunk hibernates from
late fall to early spring, waking to eat every two weeks or so.
Individuals may occasionally appear on the surface in the snow,
especially in mild weather. Essentially a ground species, this pert
chipmunk, like the gray and fox squirrels, often feeds on acorns and
hickory nuts. It does not hesitate to climb large oak trees when
acorns are ripe, and will also scale Corylus bushes to harvest
hazelnuts. The cutting sounds it makes as it eats nuts can be heard
for some distance. In addition to nuts, its diet includes seeds and
other types of vegetation, some invertebrates such as slugs and
snails, and small vertebrates, probably found as carrion. This
species is single-minded in its food gathering, making trips from
tree to storage burrow almost continuously. It was estimated that
over three days one chipmunk stored a bushel of chestnuts, hickory
nuts, and corn kernels. Burrows, consisting of single tunnels or
more complex systems, are up to 10 feet (3 m) long and less than 3
feet (1 m) deep. They may include enlarged cavities for nests (made
of pieces of leaves) and food caches, which are often large enough
to last into the following spring and summer. Eastern Chipmunks of
both sexes vocalize prominently, using one of two chattering calls:
a trilling chip-chip-chip repeated very rapidly (about 130 trills
per minute) and a lower-pitched, slower chuck . . . chuck . . .
chuck. The Long-tailed Weasel is the Eastern Chipmunk’s major
predator, but hawks, foxes, the Bobcat, and house cats also take
their share.
