Charlie’s photo of the week captures a much-beloved New Jersey creature–an Eastern Chipmunk–on a short break after scurrying around a dead tree trunk.

This chipmunk photo was actually ‘accidental.’ What caught my eye originally was the sunlight on the dead stump, creating some different shades of browns and reds!!  I began zooming in and out with the camera, trying to catch the sunlit wood’s colors amid the green forest backdrop, when I noticed this chipmunk’s movement!  Then I began focusing on the chipmunk.  Thus, our Photo of the Week: A sunlit chipmunk and some wood with a dark backdrop.   If it wasn’t for the sun’s rays highlighting this stump, like a spotlight, I would have probably walked right by!! 

There is just something about chipmunks!!  Whether it’s their tiny size or quick darting about, to and fro with frequent sudden stops, seemingly, to check things out.   Maybe it’s those bulging tiny ebony eyes!  Possibly the beautiful reddish brown fur with a white belly, along with their black and white striping!!  WHATEVER, THEY ARE CUTE!!  An animal living in the wild that does not seem wild!!  When you see one, you are entertained, and when they disappear, amid the rocks, behind a branch or down into a hole, you have that hope that they may, re-appear, and continue the show!  They are ‘love at first sight!’

I did a little research for this article and kind of figured I could simply get out my National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals and just turn to the chipmunk page.  There is no chipmunk page. There is, however, a chipmunk section, starting on page 413 going to page 439 listing TWENTY TWO types of Chipmunks, with a pretty in-depth article about each type of chipmunk. Then you add an additional six pages, each page containing multiple photos of different chipmunks!!! 

Disclaimer:  At this stage of the game, I would like to amend our Photo of the Week’s subject title, “The Eastern Chipmunk,” to, “I believe this is an Eastern Chipmunk.”

Some interesting information about our Eastern Chipmunk: They mate in early spring and have one litter per year of 3-5 young. Their habitat is open deciduous woodlands, forest edges, brushy areas, and stone walls in cemeteries and around houses.  Their range spreads below Southeastern Canada, stays East of North Dakota and Oklahoma, and north of Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia.  Our Eastern Chipmunk hibernates from late fall to early spring, waking to eat every two weeks or so.  Individuals may occasionally appear on the surface in the snow, especially in mild weather. 

Essentially a ground species, this pert chipmunk, often feeds on acorns and hickory nuts.  It does not hesitate to climb large oak trees when the acorns are ripe.  It also eats seeds and other types of vegetation along with some invertebrates, such as slugs and snails.  It will also eat small vertebrates, probably found as carrion.  This species is single-minded in its food gathering, making trips from trees to storage burrow almost continuously.

It has been estimated that over three days, one chipmunk stored a bushel of chestnuts, hickory nuts, and corn kernels.  Burrows, consisting of single tunnels or more complex systems, are up to 10 feet long and less than three feet deep. They may have cavities for food storage that are large enough to last into the following spring and summer.  Long-tailed Weasels are the Eastern Chipmunk’s main predator, but hawks, foxes, bobcats, and house cats also take their share.

I know we are all used to the saying, Busy as a Beaver,  but after reading this, you could probably also get away with saying Busy as a Chipmunk.

Please visit my Flickr site for photos – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157648941951723

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran