Chipmunk - Tamias minimus (Least) or amoenus (Yellow-pine)
Three of the five Canadian chipmunk species reside in South-western Alberta. The Least Chipmunk is the most widespread in Alberta and the only chipmunk in the northern and eastern areas of the province. The Yellow-pine and the Red-tailed Chipmunk also reside in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies. This chipmunk does not have an especially red tail and is therefore either a Least or a Yellow-pine. There is no practical method to separate these species in the wild. In the laboratory, genital bone analysis is the preferred method to separate the species.
I only see one at a time, but there are likely several chipmunks in my garden. They feed under the feeders and then "scatter-hoard" small caches in their territory. The other day I found small caches in my shoe and under a deck cushion. The chipmunk who stored the nuts in these locations is at the bottom of the food-cache learning curve.
Chipmunks have a winter burrow where they hibernate on top of their food hoard. These little animals wake up about once a week to feed and then go back to sleep. Summer nests are constructed in cavities and I am suspicious that there is a nest under my hot tub.
Litters of four or five young are delivered in late May or June and are weaned at 7 or 8 weeks of age. Young chipmunks should start turning up at the feeders this month. Perhaps the "food-cache challenged" chipmunk was just weaned?
References
Gadd Ben. Handbook of the Canadian Rockies. Corax Press. Jasper, Alberta. 1986.
Naughton Donna. The Natural History of Canadian Mammals. UofT Press. 2012.
Three of the five Canadian chipmunk species reside in South-western Alberta. The Least Chipmunk is the most widespread in Alberta and the only chipmunk in the northern and eastern areas of the province. The Yellow-pine and the Red-tailed Chipmunk also reside in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies. This chipmunk does not have an especially red tail and is therefore either a Least or a Yellow-pine. There is no practical method to separate these species in the wild. In the laboratory, genital bone analysis is the preferred method to separate the species.
Chipmunks have a winter burrow where they hibernate on top of their food hoard. These little animals wake up about once a week to feed and then go back to sleep. Summer nests are constructed in cavities and I am suspicious that there is a nest under my hot tub.
Litters of four or five young are delivered in late May or June and are weaned at 7 or 8 weeks of age. Young chipmunks should start turning up at the feeders this month. Perhaps the "food-cache challenged" chipmunk was just weaned?
References
Gadd Ben. Handbook of the Canadian Rockies. Corax Press. Jasper, Alberta. 1986.
Naughton Donna. The Natural History of Canadian Mammals. UofT Press. 2012.
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