Eastern Chipmunk

Tamias striatus

Summary 5

The eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the chipmunk subgenus Tamias, sometimes recognised as a separate genus. The name "chipmunk" comes from the Ottawa word ajidamoonh or the Ojibwe word ajidamoo, which translates literally as "one who descends trees headlong."

Description 6

Eastern chipmunks are found in forests, but also in suburban gardens and city parks, as long as there are rocks, stumps, or fallen logs to provide perching sites and cover for burrow entrances. They dig complex burrows with many entrances and chambers as well as short escape tunnels, and each chipmunk defends a small area around its burrow, threatening, chasing, and even fighting with a neighbor who invades the space. The chipmunks spend the winter underground, but venture to the surface occasionally on mild, sunny days. They enter torpor for a few days at a time, and then arouse to feed on stored nuts and seeds. Life expectancy in the wild is slightly more than a year.

Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Joe MacIndewar, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Joe MacIndewar
  2. (c) Matt Flower, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Matt Flower
  3. (c) downerhazellann, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3314182958_269307b4ef.jpg
  4. (c) Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Streifenhoernchen_1_db.jpg/460px-Streifenhoernchen_1_db.jpg
  5. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamias_striatus
  6. (c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/6625775

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