What is a Tamias striatus? It is a chipmunk. Even though a chipmunk is a rodent it can also be a pretty cool mammal. What do they look like? Chipmunks are reddish brown in color with 5 black stripes on their back. They are separated by brown, white, or grey fur stripes. They have hite and black markings around their eyes. Their stomach is usally yellowish brown or white color. Their range. An eastern chipmunk inhabits eastern North America including southeastern Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan. Habitat Description. They live in shallow burrows in the ground. Partial areas near rocky crevice, decayed tree trunks, and fence corners.

 

They eat nuts, acorns, seeds, mushrooms, fruits, berries, corn, insects, bird, eggs, and sometimes small vertebrates. Predators. Fox’s, snakes, hawks, owls, falcons and weasels. Chipmunks run away from all those predators. The main threat to their survival is agriculture. They are considered a nuisance to farmers who kill them to save their crops.

 

Females are Estrus for 3-10 days. There gestation period is 31 days and can produce a litter size of up to 9. However 4 to 5 babies is the average litter size. Economic positives & negatives. Positive-They eat insects and may help control populations of some insects species. Negative –destruction of crops, but not present in large numbers to do significant damage. In short chipmunks are important as prey items to small predators such as foxes, hawks, bobcats Etc. They also help in the dispersment of the seeds they eat from the plants, and recycle soil as a result from their burrowing. They are cute mammals that have a place in our world. so next time you see one, or one of its cousins, don’t scare it away, you should think about how they are helping spread small plants, flowers, and giving those new seeds a good start by digging up a little dirt.

 

Author: Lacey V.
Published: April 2006

 

Sources http://www.nps.gov/applications/nature/photos/ACF4413.jpg http://www.nps.gov/romo/images/resources/checklists/mammals/least_chipmunk.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/EasternChipmunk23.jpg