I've spent hours this summer watching the antics of a chipmunk I named Stripes. This furry forager makes her home under our cedar hedge where the soil is dry and the digging is easy. She visits me daily packing her pouches full of peanuts, almonds and the sunflower seeds I spread along my front windowsill, then with a twitch of her scrawny tail she scurries off to deposit the loot in her under-ground burrow.
Chipmunks are ground animals.
They live in a network of underground tunnels. The entrance that goes down approximately 5 inches before sloping off into the main tunnel is about the size of a quarter. Within these tunnels are chambers for food storage and sleeping. The lowest chamber is used as a toilet rather like a 'chamber pot'. When the pickings are good these cheeky critters will fill their sleeping quarters to within an inch from its ceiling, leaving just room enough to climb on top before curling up for a cozy nap.