2. Description
The Colorado Chipmunk has brown fur, stripes
on its back and cheeks, a long, bushy tail, and a
cone-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 two
ounces. They are mammals and have a lot of
fur. It camouflages its brown fur with trees and
fallen logs.
3. Habitat
Chipmunks build their homes in trees and
underground. It builds a burrow by digging a
hole 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 many
escape routes.
4. Diet
Colorado Chipmunks eat nuts, seeds, fruit, and
roots. Chipmunks get these foods from trees or
finds them on the ground. It eats every day
when it can find food. It gets up the trees with
its agile legs.
5. Life Cycle
Chipmunks live from 3 to 5 years. It normally
has 2 to 9 babies a year. Their gestation length
is about 30 days. The parents care for the
young by feeding them breast milk and keeping
predators away. When the chipmunks are
babies, they are blind and hairless. When they
are adults, they leave home and start gathering
food, digging a burrow, and having babies.
6. Other Interesting Facts
Chipmunks are related to squirrels, prairie dogs,
woodchucks, and flying squirrels. The stripes on
their cheeks tell them apart from Ground
Squirrels. A chipmunk can store 4 nuts in each
cheek. When they live alone and meet other
chipmunks, they can tell if it’s their brother or
sister by smell.
7. Bibliography
Source 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. quot;Squirrels, Woodchucks, and Chipmunks.quot; The New Book of
Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 1 Apr. 2009 <http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-
bin/article?assetid=a2041789-h>.
