Chipmunks are small, energetic rodents recognized by their striped pattern and characteristic expandable cheek pouches. These mammals belong to the squirrel family, Sciuridae, and are frequently sighted across North America, where they primarily inhabit forested or brushy areas. Their visible activity is closely regulated by both the time of day and the changing seasons throughout the year.
Daily Activity Schedule
Chipmunks are strictly diurnal, meaning their active period is confined exclusively to the daylight hours. Their most intense periods of activity usually occur in the early morning and late afternoon, corresponding to cooler parts of the day. The daily schedule of a chipmunk is heavily influenced by immediate weather conditions. During the peak heat of a summer day, or when it is heavily raining or windy, chipmunks will retreat underground into their burrows. This behavior helps them regulate their body temperature and conserve energy when conditions are unfavorable for foraging.
The Seasonal Cycle of Activity
The most significant break in a chipmunk’s year-round activity occurs during the winter months. They enter a state of deep sleep known as torpor, which is distinct from the continuous, true hibernation observed in animals like bears. Chipmunks do not accumulate a large fat reserve to sustain them for the entire season. Instead of sleeping continuously, they periodically wake up every few days to feed on the substantial food caches they stored in their burrows. This cycle of torpor and arousal allows them to conserve energy. Chipmunks typically enter this dormant state in late fall, around mid-November, once temperatures consistently drop below approximately 40°F. The emergence occurs in early spring, often as early as late February or March, depending on the local climate and snow cover. During warm spells in the middle of winter, a chipmunk may even briefly emerge from its burrow to forage on the surface.
Foraging and Food Storage Behavior
The active hours of a chipmunk are almost entirely devoted to the intense search for food, which includes nuts, seeds, berries, insects, and fungi. Chipmunks are equipped with expandable cheek pouches that allow them to transport large amounts of collected items back to their underground home. This intense gathering activity, known as caching, reaches its peak during the late summer and fall. The stored food is critical, as it serves as the necessary energy source for the chipmunk during its periodic arousals from winter torpor. Chipmunks employ different storage strategies:
- Creating a single large cache, called larder hoarding.
- Establishing several smaller caches scattered throughout their territory.