Chipmunks are small, active rodents recognized by their distinctive striped patterns. Their diet is diverse and plays a significant role in their survival, adapting to the resources available in their environment. Understanding their eating habits provides insight into their natural behaviors and ecological contributions.
Natural Food Sources
Chipmunks are omnivores, consuming both plant and animal matter, though their diet largely consists of plant-based foods. They primarily eat nuts and seeds. Specific examples include acorns, sunflower seeds, beech nuts, pine nuts, pecans, and hickory nuts. They possess strong jaws capable of cracking open hard shells to extract the nutritious contents.
Fruits and berries are also a favored food source for chipmunks, including strawberries, blackberries, apples, cherries, grapes, and elderberries. They are opportunistic feeders, consuming ripe fruits as they become available. Beyond nuts, seeds, and fruits, chipmunks also forage for fungi, such as mushrooms, and various plant materials like leaves, stems, buds, and fresh grass. Their diet can also include insects like caterpillars, beetles, snails, slugs, earthworms, and even small frogs, bird eggs, or nestlings, especially when protein-rich food is needed or other food sources are scarce. The specific foods they consume can vary seasonally and by habitat.
Foraging and Storage
Chipmunks spend much of their active hours foraging for food. They are often seen gathering items on the ground, but they are also skilled climbers, ascending trees to access nuts and berries. Their large, expandable cheek pouches can stretch significantly, sometimes to three times their head size, allowing them to carry a surprising volume of food. These pouches serve as temporary storage, enabling them to transport multiple food items back to their burrows efficiently, reducing their exposure time to predators in open areas.
Once collected, chipmunks store their food, particularly for colder months when food is scarce. They employ two main hoarding strategies: larder hoarding and scatter hoarding.
Larder hoarding involves storing food in one central location, typically within their elaborate underground burrow systems, which can include designated food storage chambers. Scatter hoarding, on the other hand, involves burying smaller caches of food in various hidden spots across their territory. This behavior is important for their survival through winter, as chipmunks do not accumulate significant fat reserves like true hibernators but instead wake periodically to feed from their stored provisions. Their keen sense of smell helps them locate these hidden caches later.
Foods to Avoid
While chipmunks have a diverse natural diet, feeding them human foods can be detrimental to their health. Processed items, sugary snacks, and salty foods lack the nutritional value chipmunks need and can lead to various health problems. Foods high in calories, such as crisps, bread, cakes, biscuits, and candies, can result in obesity.
Certain human foods can be directly toxic to chipmunks. These include:
Chocolate (contains theobromine)
Avocado (contains persin)
Raw potatoes (especially green parts, contain solanine)
Onions and garlic (can cause gastrointestinal distress)
Apple seeds and cherry pits (contain compounds that produce toxic hydrogen cyanide)
Avoid offering these foods to chipmunks to ensure their well-being and prevent dependence on human food sources, which can disrupt natural foraging behaviors.