CHIPMUNK

also called Ground Squirrel, any of several species of small, terrestrial rodents belonging to the squirrel family (Sciuridae). Two genera are known: Tamias, with one species, the eastern chipmunk (T. striatus), found in eastern North America; and Eutamias, with 16 species found in western North America and Central and eastern Asia. The eastern chipmunk is 14 to 19 cm (5.5 to 7.5 inches) long, excluding a bushy, 8- to 11-centimetre tail. It is reddish brown with five black stripes alternating with two brown and two white stripes on its body. The western and Asiatic chipmunks are smaller and are marked with five black and four whitish alternating body stripes. Chipmunks are active, diurnal burrow dwellers. They live primarily on the ground, but they can climb and can also swim well. Their call is a shrill chirring or chipping sound. They relish seeds, berries, and tender plants and sometimes eat flesh. Seeds are commonly stored underground for later use and are carried in the chipmunks' capacious cheek pouches. Chipmunks may sleep for extended periods in winter but do not enter the deep torpor of true hibernation. The female bears two to eight young in spring or summer after about a month's gestation; a second, usually smaller, litter is often produced in areas with long summers.