How Does a Chipmunk Find Food?
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Chipmunk Diet
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Chipmunks are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant matter and meat. Most of a chipmunk's diet consists of plant matter--it is their preferred food source. Chipmunks are foragers who search for a wide variety of food. They eat acorns, berries, fruits, nuts, mushrooms and seeds. They also eat birds, eggs, insects and small animals.
Senses
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Chipmunks have excellent senses of eyesight, hearing and smell. They use their senses to search for food. They obtain the majority of their food from the ground but will climb trees for food when the need arises.
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Gathering
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On warm days, chipmunks spend most of their time gathering food. They store food in their cheek pouches and bring it back to their burrow, where they hide it. Chipmunks store up to 8 pounds of food in their burrows. During the winter months, they remain in their burrows and rely on their food stash to nourish them. Chipmunks only store hard foods such as nuts and seeds because such food does not mold. During the winter when chipmunks rely on their food stores, they do not get to eat soft foods such as fruit. When the warm months come, fruit is a tasty and welcomed treat.
Burrows
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Chipmunk burrows are well hidden. Using leaves, rocks and sticks, the chipmunk covers the burrow's opening to avoid detection. Inside his burrow, he covers his food storage as an extra precaution. Sometimes, chipmunks store additional food in other underground areas away from their burrows. They access these additional food storage sites if area food supplies run low.
Farmers
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Farmers have been known to get angry at chipmunks who sometimes venture into agricultural areas to forage for food. There are not many chipmunks in agricultural areas, so the problem is considered to be minimal.
Enivironmental Helpers
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The chipmunks' habit of storing food provides a valuable service to the environment. They are nature's little gardeners. Uneaten seeds that the chipmunks store often sprout and grow new plants. The gathering and storing of food bring plant growth to new areas.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Yellow-pine Chipmunk - Credit: John J. Mosesso/NBII.Gov - Copyright: Public Domain
