A painting of an Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), which I did for my Mom and Dad many years ago.

The Eastern Chipmunk is a very entertaining little creature who has quite the expandable set of cheeks, great for stuffing with seeds, peanuts, and acorns, and transporting them to their den. Storing them for their winter slumber.

Notice I used the word slumber. They don’t actually hibernate, but sleep for extended periods of time during the winter, waking every few weeks during the frigid months. They’ll munch on what they’re stowed away in the various rooms of their den, even perhaps stepping outside for a short stroll when the weather has a tiny bit of warmth to it. Their winter meals consist of things that won’t spoil from extended time, mostly nuts and seeds.

Their den is a two level series of rooms with food in the bottom level and sleeping space, lined with grass and leaves on the top level. This living space is more than ten feet long and three feet deep. Pretty nice for the solitary chipmunk.

Wondering if they are already in their dens or still scurrying about. Probably not. It’s still pretty warm.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!