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Eastern Chipmunk
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Habitat
Lives in open deciduous woodlands where it uses logs, rocks, leaves, and stumps for cover. While this chipmunk can climb trees, it spends most of its time foraging on the ground.
Diet
This omnivore eats mostly nuts, berries, and mushroom, with the occasional meal of insects or even baby birds and eggs.
Distinctive Characteristics
A small member of the squirrel family, it has brown fur with black and white stripes down its back and a long tail, and it makes notably loud chipping sounds when alerted.
Nocturnal/Diurnal
Active above ground in warm months, it spends winters in an underground burrow where it sleeps for long periods of time and wakes up to eat stored food.
Reproduction & Family Structure
The eastern chipmunk has two litters of two to five pups each year: once in the spring and again in midsummer.