Fes., 1912. MamMats or ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN — Cory. 131 
Illinois and Wisconsin: Total length, 271.5; tail vertebra, 94.5; 
hind foot, 37.5 mm. 
Wooded localities, where underbrush abounds, about loose stone 
walls and old logs, or in the vicinity of outbuildings, where there is 
sufficient growth for concealment, is the chosen home of the Chipmunk. 
It passes most of its life on the ground and in climbing about fallen 
logs, fences and rocks, although it occasionally climbs large trees. It 
is very active and industrious, and during the summer devotes a great 
deal of its time to storing up food for winter use in its home, which is 
usually a hole beneath a wall or old stump or an underground burrow. 
While I am satisfied that it hibernates in winter, at least in this latitude, 
its sleep is apparently not very profound and the length of time it 
remains indoors depends largely upon the severity of the weather. 
During a warm spell it occasionally ventures forth for an airing even 
in midwinter, but as a rule it seeks its winter home shortly after the 
first hard frost and is rarely seen again until late in February or March. 
If undisturbed in the vicinity of dwellings, it soon becomes tame, and, 
if watched, may often be seen hurrying away with its cheek pouches 
distended with nuts or other food which it deposits in its storehouse 
and shortly returns with empty cheeks ready for another load. When 
suspicious of possible danger, but not actually frightened, it often sits 
upright and repeatedly utters its sharp ‘‘chip,’’ accompanying each 
vocal effort by a slight twitch of its tail. 
While Chipmunks prefer nuts, acorns, seeds and grains for their 
winter use, they eat almost anything, including small snakes, young 
mice, birds’ eggs and young birds when they can get them, as I 
know from personal experience, having caught one in the act of attacking 
a nest containing half fledged young robins. Mr. E. T. Seton quotes 
a letter from Mr. William Brewster, the well-known Cambridge natural- 
ist, who says, “‘While collecting at Crooked Lake, Michigan, in May, 
1888, I shot at a wood thrush and broke its wing. As it fluttered over 
the ground a Chipmunk pursued and caught it. When I reached the 
spot the Chipmunk had killed the bird and eaten most of its brains. I 
had to kick at the Chipmunk to make it give up the thrush. Afterward 
as I held the bird dangling in my hand the Chipmunk approached and 
jumped up, trying to snatch it from me.” * 
The young are usually 4 or 5, and when born are without hair and 
the eyes are closed. Kennicott says, ‘The quantity of nuts, acorns 
and seeds sometimes collected by these industrious little fellows is 
astonishing. They are frequently stored temporarily under logs, and 
in shallow holes under roots of trees, and afterwards removed to the 
* Life Histories of Northern Animals, I, 1909, p. 355- 
