1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 135 



panionship. Although nervous and timid, they are easily tamed so as 

 to take food from the hand and even climb over a person in search 

 of nuts or seeds. 



EUTAMIAS AMOENUS LUTEIVENTRIS (ALLEN) 

 YELLOW-BELIED CHIPMUNK 



Tamias quadrivittatus luteiventris Allen, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull. 3: 101, 

 1890. 



Type. Collected at Upper Waterton Lake, north end of Glacier National 

 Park, Mont., by Elliott Coues in 1874. 



General cliuraeters. Slightly larger than E. amoenus with blacker stripes 

 on the back and more completely buffy or yellow belly. Summer pelage with 

 5 black, 2 creamy white, and 2 gray stripes; sides of face with 3 dark and 2 

 Light stripes; sides and shoulders bright rufous; lower parts, feet, and lower 

 surface of tail dull ochraceous; top and edges of tail blackish, washed with 

 ochraceous ; back of ears buffy and blackish. Winter pelage duller and grayer. 

 Young as in summer adults. 



Measurements. Average of typical specimens : Total length, 221 mm ; tail, 

 102 ; foot, 33 ; ear, 13.5. 



Distribution and habitat. With a wide range in the Rocky Moun- 

 tain region of Canada, western Montana and Wyoming, and central 

 Idaho, these yellow-bellied chipmunks extend into northeastern Ore- 

 gon in the Wallowa and northern part of the Blue Mountains, and 

 there merge into amoenus to the south and west (fig. 22). They 

 are forest chipmunks, occupying mainly Transition and Canadian 

 Zones, but sometimes found well up in Hudsonian close to timber 

 line. They prefer the more open forests and are most abundant in 

 the yellow-pine Transition Zone area. They also live in the brush 

 or among rocks but never out in the open country. 



General habits. In habits these yellow-bellied chipmunks differ 

 little from their near relative, Eutamias amoemis. They occasionally 

 climb trees but depend mainly for protection on burrows in the 

 ground, hollow logs, or broken rocks. They are skillful climbers, 

 however, and run up trunks, through the branches, and through the 

 tops of bushes in search of food. When alarmed, they generally 

 rush to the ground and with a shrill chipper disappear under the first 

 cover or into the nearest hole. 



Over most of their range the winters are long and cold, and the 

 snow deep. Late in October, or in November, the chipmunks disap- 

 pear and are not seen again until some time in March. This is their 

 long, sleepy time. Then comes the spring awakening and the breed- 

 ing season of April, May, and June; then the play month of July, 

 when the young are out and frisking about, not taking life too 

 seriously; then the harvest months of August and September, the 

 busy time of the year, when food must be gathered to last through 

 the winter and spring, and a warm nest must be made deep under- 

 ground below the frost line. 



Breeding habits. As the deep snow begins to melt in March, the 

 chipmunks tunnel up through it to the surface and begin to travel 

 in all directions from their burrows, and soon the males are actively 

 searching for mates. At Wallowa Lake on April 9, 1919, G. G. Cant- 

 well reported them out over the snow that still covered the ground. 



