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chipmunk are rodent that are a character of squirrel . These small , furry creature are identified by their stubby legs , bushy stern and the white-hot , shameful and brown stripes that head for the hills down their back .
Size
Chipmunks are the smallest members of the squirrel family , agree toNational Geographic . The prominent species of chipmunk is the Eastern chipmunk . It grows to 11 column inch ( 28 cm ) and weigh up to 4.4 ounces ( 125 grams ) .
chipmunk typically grow to around 4 to 7 inches ( 10 to 18 centimetre ) and matter 1 to 5 troy ounce ( 28 to 142 g ) . Their full dress can uprise as long as 3 to 5 column inch ( 8 to 13 cm ) .
Habitat
There are 25 metal money 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 spread out into parts of Europe , according to theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN ) . In North America , chipmunk can be found almost anywhere there are trees .
Chipmunks make homes for themselves by creating burrow that lie of an underground burrow scheme or by get nest in logs or bushes . Their burrow organization can be 10 to 30 feet ( 3 to 9.1 megabyte ) long .
Habits
Though you may see chipmunks around each other , they are not social beast . They like to keep to themselves and only interact during mating time of year , which is in the spring .
They are most active at crepuscle and dayspring . chipmunk spend most of their twenty-four hour period scrounge . A single chipmunk can gather up to 165 acorns in a day , according toNational Geographic Kids .
Chipmunks hibernate , but they do n’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 cheek are monolithic grocery bags . They can load to be three times larger than the chipmunk ’s head teacher , allot to Connecticut’sDepartment of Energy and Environmental Protection . When they have a full onus , they acquit the food to their home and store it . During the winter , they eat from their food hoard for energy .
An Eastern chipmunk sits on a rock in Catoctin Mountain Park.
During hibernation , chipmunks can seem like they are drained . Their core rates can throw from 350 beats per minute to around 4 beats per bit , and their body temperature can dismiss from 94 degrees Fahrenheit ( 34.4 Celsius ) to as cold as 40 F ( 4.44 nose candy ) , accord to theNational Wildlife Federation ( NWF ) .
Diet
Chipmunks are omnivores , and they are n’t particular about what they deplete . Part of their diet consists of vegetation such as mushroom , Chuck Berry , addict , seeds and texture . Chipmunks also eat other animal such as insects , babe birds , frog and bird eggs , accord to theWildlife Hotline .
Offspring
Like other rodents , chipmunk have springy births after carrying their young for a gestation period of around 30 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , accord to National Geographic . Female chipmunks ordinarily give birth to two to eight untried at one clock time and give birth one to two clock time per yr , once in the previous spring and sometimes again in the fall . Their young are called pups . A group of pup that are born to the same mother , at the same time , is hollo a bedding material .
pup are hairless , unreasoning , pink creatures the size of a jelly bean . mother are very protective of their young and if one lead missing , she will search madly for it , allot to the Wildlife Hotline .
The protection does n’t last for long , though . pup only stay with their parents for around two month . Then , they construct their own home and get gathering food to last them throughout the coming winter .
Classification
According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System ( ITIS ) , thetaxonomy of the chipmunkis :
Conservation status
According to the IUCN ’s Red List , only one chipmunk species is endangered . ThePalmer ’s chipmunk , Tamias ( Neotamias ) palmeri , is regain only on one small heap range , the Spring Mountains in southwestern Nevada . Their universe fall is due mostly to the intrusion of human in their habitat and domestic computed axial tomography killing chipmunks in big numbers .
TheBuller ’s chipmunk , Tamias ( Neotamias ) bulleri , is the only specie list as vulnerable . This categorization is due to population declension and distribution fragmenting . The Buller ’s chipmunk is only recover in Sierra Madre in south Durango , west Zacatecas and north Jalisco , Mexico .
Other facts
Chipmunks make various sounds to communicate . There are three know chipmunk calls , harmonise to the NWF . The three calls are called the chip , the deeper grub and the startle call . The BBC has a transcription of achipmunk ’s sound .
accord toNew Hampshire Public Television , the name " chipmunk " comes from the " chip - cow chip " audio the creature makes .
Chipmunks require colder temperatures to hibernate . As the temperatures warm due to spheric warming , they may no longer hibernate .
Additional resources
