Fur reddish, with dark brown to black stripes on the face and extending along the sides and back. Builds dens in the ground, with hidden entrances often under stone walls, old tree stumps, or rotten logs. Chipmunks are solitary and hibernate in the winter. They eat seeds, bulbs, nuts, meat, insects, eggs, and plants such as Canada mayflower and American yew .
Food is stored in underground dens.
They exhibit territorial behavior. Well, you'd be surprised how much food can be stored in a chipmunk's mouth. Chipmunk populations rise and fall with the availability of seeds. The chipmunks will remain abundant throughout the next summer, but their numbers will decline in the fall due to food scarcity. Masting years, or years of high nut production for oaks, occur only every three to four years, and this pattern is reflected in the abundance of chipmunks.