these cute little rodents look like tiny squirrels but they have carved themselves a separate niche most squirrels are amazing climbers who spend the majority of their time in the trees in some areas in north america you can hardly look around without seeing a squirrel staring back at you with those cold cold squirrel eyes see chipmunks are a little harder to see because they live in burrows in the ground and they're really good at hiding them it's super hard to find a chipmunk burrow entrance but luckily today i'm on a trail that's known to be prime chipmunk territory in my neck of the woods there's only one species the eastern chipmunk which lives from southern canada to southeastern united states but there are over NUMBER_TOKEN other species found in north america many of which are found in the diverse ecosystems in the west there's also one species of chipmunk in siberia which has been introduced to japan they all basically look the same they're all brown with black and white stripes down their back and they're all crazy cute this coloration helps them camouflage from predators by breaking the outline of their body it's a necessary adaptation as they have a huge roster of potential predators owls hawks snakes weasels raccoons even domestic cats and dogs are more than happy to have a chipmunk amuse bush and it's really no wonder they're so skittish their only real defense mechanism is hiding in their burrows they are fantastic engineers and can make burrows with separate chambers for debris food storage and sleeping quarters they even have separate chambers to store their feces you know gotta keep clean the burrows aren't usually very deep but they extend parallel to the surface for up to three meters all of this was dug by a small animal was only about as big as a little banana whenever they're inside they plug the entrance so well that they're nearly invisible when they're digging a new burrow or chamber they use work tunnels which are separate from the main entrance this helps them take out soil without creating conspicuous dirt mounds near their burrow entrance to take dirt out they put it in their mouth which can expand greatly due to their elastic cheeks these huge cheeks are also used to transport food into their burrow just to give you an idea the current chipmunk record holders have been recorded holding NUMBER_TOKEN sunflower seeds NUMBER_TOKEN corn kernels and NUMBER_TOKEN acorns that's basically the equivalent of you holding an entire puma in your mouth but they can't get every little seed or spore in fact in north america they're one of the most important means of dispersion of every fancy chef's favorite subterranean ingredient truffle mushrooms without chipmunks truffles might not exist of course hours of digging and running around in the mud makes them very dirty which is why they spend about half of their day cleaning themselves they can reach almost every part of their body with their teeth and tongue lucky and they also used the cat method of moistening their hands with saliva to clean the inaccessible parts like the back of their head contrary to the lies that disney told you about chip and dale chipmunks never really live in trees and they certainly don't live with their brothers these rodents are fiercely territorial loners every morning chipmunks come out of the burrow
NO_SEGMENT_TOKEN