The Colorado ChipmunkBy: Olivia Requist

DescriptionThe Colorado Chipmunk has brown fur, stripes

on its back and cheeks, a long, bushy tail, and acone-shaped face. Its small claws and strong legs help it find food to survive. They can be up to nine inches long and weigh about twoounces. They are mammals and have a lot of fur. It camouflages its brown fur with trees andfallen logs.

HabitatChipmunks build their homes in trees andunderground. It builds a burrow by digging ahole in the soil or finds old holes in trees. Chipmunks usually live in the forest or under peoples’ porches. Colorado Chipmunks’ burrows are about one foot deep and have

manyescape routes.

DietColorado Chipmunks eat nuts, seeds, fruit, androots. Chipmunks get these foods from trees or finds them on the ground. It eats every daywhen it can find food. It gets up the trees withits agile legs.

Life CycleChipmunks live from 3 to 5 years. It normallyhas 2 to 9 babies a year. Their gestation lengthis about 30 days. The parents care for theyoung by feeding them breast milk and keepingpredators away. When the chipmunks arebabies, they are blind and hairless. When theyare adults, they leave home and start gatheringfood, digging a burrow, and having babies.

Other Interesting Facts Chipmunks are related to squirrels, prairie dogs, woodchucks, and flying squirrels. The stripes ontheir cheeks tell them apart from GroundSquirrels. A chipmunk can store 4 nuts in eachcheek. When they live alone and meet other chipmunks, they can tell if it’s their brother orsister by smell.

BibliographySource 1:Animal Encyclopedia. London, New York, Sydney Delhi, Paris,

Munich, Johannesburg: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, 2000.

Source 2:Switzer, Merebith. Chipmunks. Danbury, CT: Grolier Education Corporation, 1986.

Source 3 Colorado Division of Wildlife. 16 Mar. 2009

<http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Profiles/Mammals/Chipmunks.htm>. Source 4 Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. "Squirrels, Woodchucks, and Chipmunks." The New

Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 1 Apr. 2009 <http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2041789-h>.

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