• Adult total length: 8 3/4 - 10 in. (220 - 255 mm)

• Tail: 3 - 4 in. (75 - 100 mm)

• Hind foot: 1 1/8 - 1 5/8 in. (30 - 40 mm)

• Weight: 2 1/2 - 5 oz. (70 - 140 g)

• Physical Characteristics: The eastern chipmunk is reddish-brown with five conspicuous dark dorsal stripes. The underparts are white. The tail is well-haired, the ears are prominent and rounded, and internal cheek pouches are present. An albino chipmunk was observed at Newfound Gap during September (Stupka, 1944).

left lateral view of skull and mandible	dorsal view of skull	ventral view of skull

• Range Maps

  North America	Great Smokies

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park: The eastern chipmunk has been recorded from all elevations in the park, although they are much less abundant in the spruce- fir forests than in the deciduous woodlands ( Linzey, 1995b).
  • Blount Co.: Abrams Creek; Bull Cave; Cades Cove; Gregory Bald Trail; Thunderhead; Russell Field.

  • Cocke Co.: Cosby; near Low Gap (2,700 feet).

  • Sevier Co.: Greenbrier Cove (1,800 - 3,500 feet); Mill Creek ( 2,000 - 2,400 feet); Elkmont (2,500 feet); Fort Harry Cliffs (3,200 feet); Horseshoe Mountain (3,500 feet); Chapman Prong (3,500 feet); Eagle Rocks Creek; Sugarland Mountain (4,400 feet); Mt. Guyot; Mt. LeConte; near Newfound Gap (5,100 feet).

  • Haywood Co.: Black Camp Gap; Pin Oak Gap (4,500 feet).

  • Swain Co.: Deep Creek; Forney Creek; Smokemont; Sunkata Ridge; Welch Ridge; Richland Mountain; Indian Gap; Clingmans Dome (6,500 feet).

Index

Natural History

• Reproduction
  Eastern chipmunk males emerge from winter burrows with testes inlarged and scrotal, and cluster near the burrow system of a female on her day of estrus. Gestation lasts for one month. Litter size averages three to five young that are born in either early spring or in mid-summer. A lactating female with four embryos was recorded August 21, 1984 (Ambrose, 1986). The young nurse for six weeks, and first appear above ground shortly before lactation ends. They reach adult size at five to seven months of age.

• Longevity
  The life span in the wild for an eastern chipmunk is probably between two to four years, although some have lived at least eight years.

• Terrestrial Ecology
  Eastern chipmunks are diurnal and live a solitary existence most of the year, although family groups may sometimes overwinter together. Chipmunks may become inactive during periods of high temperatures in summer and during severe winter weather. Even though in some regions they enter into a deep sleep, they do not store fat and must awaken periodically to feed on stored food. Occasionally, active chipmunks may be observed when snow is on the ground. They have been seen during every month of the year in the park.

  Food consists chiefly of nuts such as acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, and walnuts; small seeds; berries; wild grapes; and a variety of small animal life including snails, earthworms, and insects. Chipmunks in the park have been observed feeding on acorns (Quercus sp.), chestnuts ( Castanea dentata), and the mast of such trees as silverbell (Halesia carolina) and beech (Fagus sp.). A pile of opened land snails was found at the entrance to a chipmunk burrow near Bull Cave in Cades Cove in March (Stupka, 1935). Much food is stored during late summer and fall. The large internal cheek pouches are used for transporting food to underground storage chambers or other cache sites. The cheek pouch of one chipmunk examined in the park contained a wild grape.

• Predators and Defense
  Eastern chipmunks may be captured by a variety of predators including snakes, hawks, foxes, bobcats, and weasels. Known predators in the park include black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) and timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus). A chipmunk that had been struck by a rattlesnake was found along the Little River ( Stupka, 1943). The stomach of a timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus ) taken near Pin Oak Gap (4,500 feet) contained the remains of a chipmunk (Stupka, 1949). Savage ( 1967) recorded chipmunks in four timber rattlesnakes.

• Parasites
  None recorded from the park.

• University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology
• eNature

Index

Acknowledgements

• Text
  • Dr. Donald W. Linzey, Wytheville Community College - wclinzd@wcc.vccs.edu
  • Christy Brecht, Wytheville Community College - wcbrecc@wcc.vccs.edu

• Photographs
  • Roger Barbour

• Map development
  • Richard Schulz, Great Smoky Mountains National Park - richard_schulz@nps.gov

• Web page design & coding
  • Denise Lim, University of Georgia, Athens
  • John Pickering, University of Georgia, Athens

• Ambrose, J. P. 1986. Dynamics of ecological boundary phenomena along the borders of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ph.D. diss., University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. (Also National Park Service - Coop. Studies Unit Tech. Rep. 34. February, 1987).

• Ellis, L.S. 1999. Eastern chipmunk. Pages 388 - 389. In: D.E. Wilson, and S. Ruff (eds.). The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

• Komarek, E. V. and R. Komarek. 1938. Mammals of the Great Smoky Mountains. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 5 (6): 137 - 162.

• Linzey, D. W. 1995a. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.

• Linzey, D. W. 1995b. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park-1995 Update. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111(1):1-81.

• Linzey, D. W. 1998. The Mammals of Virginia. Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.

• Savage, T. 1967. The diet of rattlesnakes and copperheads in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Copeia 1967 (1): 226 - 227.

• Snyder, D.P. 1982. Tamias striatus. Mammalian Species No. 168: 1 - 8. American Society of Mammalogists.

• Stupka, A. 1935 - 63. Nature Journal, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 28 vols. (years) each with index. (Typewritten copy in files of Great Smoky Mountains National Park library).