Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-01-26
LIFE OF A CHlPMUNK
Provident Little Fellow Works
While Others Frolic

In His Snug Underground Home He Is
Free from Danger, but Above Ground
He Must Be Continually Wary.
When the snow is deep over hill and |
valley and the wind shrieks through the |
tree tops, the wild creatures who are out |
in the night suffer greatly and often die
miserably. Out on the hills the deer
huddle together, shivering in their yards
the hare crouches motionless in the
brush, and even the prowling fox re-
turns to his den, cold and hungry after
a fruitless trip through the deserted
fields and woods. The squirrels in their
holes in the trees fare little better, for
the walls to their homes are frozen, and
the cold creeps in at every crack and
crevice. With abundant food to keep
their inner fires going they could with
stand the cold, but the varying winter
weather conditions often cut short their
accustomed food supply for days at
time and 1t Is simply question of their
endurance whether they live or die.
But there is an underworld for furry
creatures where the cold and the winds
are unheeded; where there is food In
plenty and warm nest in which to take
long nap. Down in the ground with
thick layer of snow-covered earth be-
tween him and the cold, the chipmunk
He Is wise little fellow and chooses
the warmth and comfort of an under
ground home with a well-stocked PAN
try to the precarious but freer life of
his cousins of the winter upper world.
Wiser, too, is he than other underground
jewellers who simply retire into their
holes and sleep away nearly a third of
their lives. Life in winter Is simple to
him. but he must enjoy 1t, perhaps more
than during the summer months when
he has to be ever on the alert lest
some of his many enemies pounce on
him and eat him.
Early in the fall he makes his home,
a new one each year generally Out
wardly there Is little to indicate its To-
cation, simply small round hole in the
ground without a particle of tell-tale
yellow sand or fresh dirt about 1t.
Every particle that the little home build
er excavates he carries away in his
mouth and drops at some distance. This
precaution is typical of his nature; there
Is almost nothing small enough to en-
ter the hole that would do him harm,
but his enemies might see fresh dirt and
lie in wait for him when he came out.
The hole in the ground is extended down.
ward from three to five feet and may
extend off laterally far as 10 feet
from the entrance. Sometimes 1t is a
simple tunnel but more often it is
branched, one or more of the branches
terminating in enlarged cavities In one
of these cavities, generally the one near
est the surface of the gound, Is a bed
of soft grasses in which the chipmunk
curls up for his quiet sleep. In this he
again shows his good sense as the lower
passages receive and carry off all water
which runs into the hole, and his sleep
ing chamber is always dry and comfort
able. 1t would be very rarely that one
was drowned in his home, even during a
spring thaw.
In another chamber is his store O.
food for the winter. He is a providen
little fellow, and in the early fall wheI
his neighbors and cousins are spending
most of their time in frolc, he Is bus!
from morning until night carrying IL
supplies for the winter. He takes what
ever he finds handiest; in the wood
email nuts which he shells neatly, in tn
fields and near farm houses grains o
various sorts almost anything that will
keep in his underground home suits him
Gathering his supplies is not simple
matter as 1t would be If he had fewe
enemies waiting to devour him. Some
times he Is compelled to carry his sup
plies considerable distance, and tn
furtive way in which he goes form on
bit Of shelter to another on his way
indicative of the state of fear unde
which he is working. With his cheek
puffed out with grain he will stop o
top of wall and survey his course sew
eral minutes before venturing to make
dash across to a sheltering stump, whic
is his next stopping place Sometime
he will become suspicious and a trip wi
be interrupted for half an hour Will
he watches motionless. ready to dash ur
der cover at the least sign of mminei
danger. Finally, after days and weel
of patient toll, his storehouse Is fu
enough to suit him. If the weather
still warm he takes a brief rest. spen'
ing his days In sunny corners in Il
nd OF tnQ m fhn VNln mi h h.
the woods and fields afford at this Sc
son. AS the days grow shorter and col
er he spends less and less time in Il
open air, sometimes coming forth on
for an hour or two In the middle of Il
day to lie on the sunny side of a stun
near his doorway. Even this outing
abandoned at last sometime In Mover
her and he retires into his undergroul
fastness to remain until spring. Som
times he goes into winter quarters alor
but more often he and his mate use Il
same house, storing up food togetht
Their underground life must be one
comfort and plenty. None of the on
side cold can reach them, and Il
warmth of their own bodies keeps thu
home comfortable under all condition
Their long passageways allow them roc
to stir about In and there Is food
plenty. Much of their time is spe
probably in doing comfortably In tn,
warm nest. When they come out in [
spring they are sleek and fat w
should they not be. with nothing to
but eat and sleep and freed from t
ever present fear OF death?
Not until sometime In April, when I
sunshine is bright and warm, does t
chlpmunk re-enter, the outdoor II
Perhaps he may come out to sun hi
self FOR brief periods before that but
does not go far from his doorway and
very different from the active. alert lit
fellow OF the summer and fall The wi
ter underground home would be
small for his activity In warm wealth
and he generally selects new one sc
after coming out for the season. II
is less carefully planned house, of
simply hole under a stump or ste
wall with additional excavations to s
his fancy or needs In the spring tn
is less for him to eat than later in
year, and after his winter undergrou
he is hungry What he finds he devol
an tho araf hut q little Ia ter Whep