preview

The Eastern Chipmunk Essay

Decent Essays

The Eastern Chipmunk

The Eastern chipmunk is a small rodent of the Sciuridae family. This chipmunk is closely related to the red and grey fox, the flying squirrel, and the woodchuck. Its Taxonomic name is Tamias Striatus. The word Tamias, Means collector or keeper and Striatus refers to its bold stripes and coloring.

The body of the average Eastern Chipmunk is about 8 to 10 inches long, the weigh about 2 ½ to 4 ounces. The ears are rounded with ears that stick straight up. It has short legs, the hind legs each have five claws, the front legs have four, and a long thumb like extension. They also have a furry flat tail.

Chipmunks have short, dense body fur. It is the same color for males and females. This is a reddish-brown with …show more content…

A chipmunk can transport large amounts of food in cheek pouches. A chipmunk uses its forepaws to manipulate food for eating or transporting.

Eating and foraging among other thing are done during the day. Chipmunks are most active in early morning and late afternoon. In hot weather they spend much time in their burrows.

A chipmunk's burrow my be simple or elaborate. The entrance is about two inches wide, it is usually hidden. Burrows sink straight down for several inches, then settle and lengthen about 30 feet, occasionally branching into derivative tunnels with separate entries.

Chipmunks excavate their burrows, thrusting or carrying unearthed dirt away from the entrance. Somewhere in the system is a foot-square nest chamber. this compartment is lined with crumbled dry leaves and grass. A chipmunk stashes nuts, seeds, corn, and other hoarded foods under the leaf bed or in a storage chamber nearby.

Chipmunks do not enter winter with a thick layer of body fat as do other hibernating animals. Instead they begin gathering and storing food in autumn and live off of that until late October or early November. Length of wintering behavior varies.

Chipmunks close their den entrances when they go underground. They sleep much of the winter, waking sporadically to eat. On tranquil, clear days they may leave the den for a short time. Some surface to breed in late February or early March, but snow and cold may force

Get Access