Fun Facts About Chipmunks

Lots of Fun Facts about Chipmunks

Chipmunks are cute, energetic members of the rodent family. It's fun to watch them race across the yard or stuff their cheeks with peanuts.

In the springtime, chipmunks emerge from hibernation and become active. Sometimes they emerge during the winter months as well, then return to hibernation.

We have plenty of chipmunks living around us, so I'll share my observations with you here. I've also collected great facts about their lives, what they eat and what their homes are like.

These fun facts about chipmunks give you the background information needed for really appreciating these cute critters.

What Do Chipmunks Eat? - Mostly Nuts, But Other Things Too

I've seen chipmunks stuffing even green strawberries into their cheeks. They run out of my strawberry patch with their cheeks full and leave none for me. Even when I stamp my feet and wave my arms at them, they won't run off until they have a strawberry. Sometimes they just take a single bite out of the strawberry. I wish they wouldn't do that.

Chipmunk Eating a Strawberry

Here Are Some of the Things Chipmunks Eat

1. acorns, peanuts, peanut butter, walnuts, almonds
2. strawberries, grapes, apples (mine don't care for bananas or watermelon)
3. seeds like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
4. insects (I've seen beetle wings among the debris left from chipmunks dining)
5. They eat wild berries. Chipmunks can easily climb trees and into berry bushes.

   
   

How Many Nuts Can a Chipmunk Stuff into His Cheeks? - Enjoy the YouTube Video

Make a guess before you start the video. Is it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 nuts?

See if you guessed right.

Chipmunk Books for Kids - Nonfiction books about chipmunks

Learn more about chipmunks with these informative books. You can look for these at your public library.

• Chattering Chipmunks (Pull Ahead Books)
• Chipmunk Facts: Chipmunks; A Picture Book for Kids About Chipmunks
• Chipmunks (In My Backyard)

Pictures I Took of Chipmunks

Where Do Chipmunks Live?

If you have an old stump nearby, look around it for small holes in the ground close to it. The holes may be about the size of a golf ball and that's the entrance to the chipmunk's home. Under the stump where it's protected from rain, the chipmunk digs out a den about the size of a watermelon. Many tunnels run in and out of this den.

Look around and you will see holes in many places like under a step or a patio or deck. The chipmunk likes to have many places that it can dive for cover when there is danger.

Photos of Chipmunk Holes - Taken by Virginia Allain

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Chipmunks make several sounds. It can sound like chip-chip-chip or chuck-chuck-chuck.

My Chipmunk Photos - Taken in New Hampshire

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The Best Known Chipmunks - Chip and Dale

They got their names after a famous English furniture maker, Chippendale.

Chip 'n Dale on DVD - Everyone's favorite chipmunks

Watch all your favorite episodes of Chip 'n Dale. There are plenty more episodes available on Amazon. You can even get Chip 'n Dale as a stuffed bean-bag toy.

Which Do You Think This Is? Chip or Dale?

How Many Babies Does a Chipmunk Have?

Chipmunks have two batches of babies each summer. The first litter is born in the spring and the second batch in mid-summer. There are likely to be 4 or 5 babies each time.

Usually, the nest is in the underground burrow, but sometimes it can be in a tree or another place. Last summer, we opened the front of a small birdhouse that we had on a pole in the garden. An adult chipmunk leaped up, followed by 4 half-grown ones. They scampered away into the woods.

We were amazed that they all fit inside the small birdhouse. The opening was just the right size for a chickadee, but big enough for the chipmunk to get in also. The mama chipmunk had climbed that pole with nesting material in the mouth, made a nest, had her babies, and returned to feed them as they grew.

Visitors Come to This Page from Many Places

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2010 Virginia Allain

Did You Learn Anything New about Chipmunks?

julieannbrady on May 03, 2014:

I think chipmunks are rather cute and would surely rather see them in my back yard than the moles. Would you believe, it was right before 8pm last night when I came to my back patio door and locked eyes for a pregnant pause with a raccoon who was foraging in the cat's dish. Then, he bolted for the natural area -- first time we've come eye to eye like that.

anonymous on October 08, 2013:

I love this! Adorable and informative!

TanoCalvenoa on October 07, 2013:

This is really great. Who doesn't love chipmunks? Awesome animals.

anonymous on May 24, 2013:

They're soo cute! And for my project I'm learning about chipmunks so this helps a lot

anonymous on April 30, 2013:

love chipmunks

CherylsArt on January 02, 2013:

Cute! I didn't know they ate strawberries. We used to have a chipmunk come around that we called Chippy.

anonymous on October 25, 2012:

i luv chipmunks so much.......................i really luv it when they stuff there chheeks its just sooooooooooooooooo CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anonymous on August 30, 2012:

I wuvs chipmunks soooo much!!!!! They are my favorite animals!!!!!

remicallens on July 22, 2012:

Lots of good info.

Ellen Gregory from Connecticut, USA on June 06, 2012:

I love chipmunks. When I see one stuffing its fat little cheeks, I think it's so cute. It makes me smile and makes my day.

anonymous on May 21, 2012:

Chipmunks are so cute and they certainly adapt to being around us very easily and we find out that maybe we should not have been so welcoming when they wake us up too early with their very loud morning chipping right next to the open window!

grannysage on March 16, 2012:

When I was a child a had a chipmunk who would eat out of my hand. I would also sit at the door with our neighbor and feed the chipmunks with him. They are so cute. I love the chipmunk in a teacup card.

Nancy Carol Brown Hardin from Las Vegas, NV on March 15, 2012:

Back for another visit...my daughter's chipmunks even eat jalapeno plants, new peppers and all. Feisty, smart little things too. As soon as she comes out of the house, long before she gets to the garden, they've stuffed their little selves and whoosh! they're gone!

JessyGene on February 06, 2012:

what adorable pictures

poutine on October 16, 2011:

They are so cute. I have one in my backyard and enjoy watching it.

RinchenChodron on September 21, 2011:

Aren't they sweet? I used to play with them as a kid - don't see them often any more.

ArtformTheHeart on September 08, 2011:

what a cute lens, and I love that there's a funny photo of a man in the middle of the flickr gallery, lol

AlleyCatLane on September 05, 2011:

Very cute little fellas. I have squirrels all over my yard and enjoy watching them.

Laura Fincannon from New Orleans and South Florida on September 05, 2011:

So cute...what about Alvin and the Chipmunks? They are pretty well known, too...plus they sing Christmas songs!

poutine on September 05, 2011:

I find them so cute to watch.

gottaloveit2 on July 23, 2011:

I just sort of like the little critters. I know they can be destructive but, with 6 dogs chasing them in the backyard, they don't have much chance to get into anything except for the birdseed and they're welcomed to that! Nice lens.

Nancy Carol Brown Hardin from Las Vegas, NV on June 30, 2011:

I love these darn things, my daughter plants her garden for them. Goodness knows, their family doesn't get any of the veggies. But she enjoys them so much, she hasn't the heart to do away with them. Great lens, and I learned more about their burrow habits. The video with the little guy with cheeks stuffed with peanuts is so cute.

bikerchickie on June 10, 2011:

Chipmunks are so darn cute. I remember the first time I ever saw one: next to the dumpster on the Hoover Dam parking lot. I had never seen one before because I'm from Europe, so I thought it was the cutest thing ever. The American friend who was accompanying me huffed and said it was nothing but a rat with a tail. :)

Lorelei Cohen from Canada on April 29, 2011:

Your images are so delightful that you make me long for the country again.

Liz Mackay from United Kingdom on September 29, 2010:

What a cheeky little chappy

Mary Beth Granger from O'Fallon, Missouri, USA on September 29, 2010:

What cute chipmunk items! Well done!

WindyWintersHubs from Vancouver Island, BC on July 15, 2010:

Adorable! I enjoyed learning about chipmunks. We don't have any on the island. They do resemble squirrels but they are so tiny. Oh, boy! I do see their racing strips do stand out. Too cute lens!

NatureMaven on July 10, 2010:

I love chipmunks- in the summer I sit outside every morning and watch their antics while I have my coffee. It's cheaper than cable! Thanks for making such a nice, informative lens about chipmunks.

Robin S from USA on July 02, 2010:

You've made learning about chipmunks so much fun! Nice work!

Jennifer P Tanabe from Red Hook, NY on July 02, 2010:

Love chipmunks! We always have a bunch running around our yard and neighborhood. Unfortunately one of my cats me brought one as an "offering" the other day - my husband kindly disposed of it. Sorry chipmunk!