Editing Chipmunk (section)

==Ecology and life history==
[[File:Chimps2.theora.ogv|thumb|Chipmunks in northern [[Wisconsin]]]]
[[File:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg|thumb|Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow]]

Eastern chipmunks, the largest of the chipmunks,<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Geographic|website=[[National Geographic Society]] |date=11 April 2010 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/chipmunks|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301043528/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/chipmunks |archive-date=2021-03-01 }}</ref> mate in early spring and again in early summer, producing litters of four or five young twice each year.<ref name=hazard>{{cite book | last = Hazard | first = Evan B.  | title = The Mammals of Minnesota | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | year = 1982 | pages =  52–54 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sjoQK1bedB0C&q=eastern+chipmunk+mate&pg=PA53 | isbn  = 978-0-8166-0952-9}}</ref> Western chipmunks breed only once a year. The young emerge from the burrow after about six weeks and strike out on their own within the next two weeks.<ref>{{cite book | last = Schwartz | first = Charles Walsh  |author2=Elizabeth Reeder Schwartz |author3=Jerry J. Conley  | title = The Wild Mammals of Missouri | publisher = University of Missouri Press | year = 2001 | pages =  135–140 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uEWl0ZM6DfUC&q=eastern+chipmunk+young&pg=PA140 | isbn  = 978-0-8262-1359-4}}</ref>

These small mammals fulfill several important functions in [[forest]] [[ecosystem]]s. Their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial role in [[seedling]] establishment. They consume many different kinds of [[fungi]], including those involved in [[Mycorrhiza|symbiotic mycorrhizal associations]] with trees, and are a [[dispersal vector|vector for dispersal]] of the spores of subterranean [[Sporocarp (fungi)|sporocarps]] (truffles) in some regions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pyare |first1=Sanjay |last2=Longland |first2=William S. |date=2001 |title=Patterns of Ectomycorrhizal-Fungi Consumption by Small Mammals in Remnant Old-Growth Forests of the Sierra Nevada |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1383605 |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=681–689 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2001)082<0681:POEFCB>2.0.CO;2 |jstor=1383605 |issn=0022-2372}}</ref> <!--which have co-evolved with these and other [[wikt:mycophagous|mycophagous]] mammals and thus lost the ability to disperse their spores through the air.<ref>{{cite book | last = Apostol | first = Dean  |author2=Marcia Sinclair | title = Restoring the Pacific Northwest: The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Cascadia | publisher = Island Press | year = 2006 | page =  112 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CsGyhzFBjyAC&q=chipmunk+sporocarps&pg=PA112| isbn  = 978-1-55963-078-8}}</ref>{{Failed verification |date=April 2017|reason=The citation only discusses northern flying squirrels eating the truffles.  Chipmunks are merely mentioned as part of the above-ground food web, providing food for spotted owls, and the repetition of northern flying squirrels in that trio indicates they are not saying the Townsend's chipmunks are equivalent consumers in the food web.  Chipmunks probably do eat truffles too, but this source does not say so.}}-->

Chipmunks construct extensive [[burrow]]s which can be more than {{convert|3.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length with several well-concealed entrances.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/chipmunk.htm | title=Eastern Chipmunk | publisher=Adirondack Ecological Center | work=Adirondack Mammals | date=1988 | access-date=2015-09-19 | author=Saunders, D. A.}}</ref> The sleeping quarters are kept clear of shells, and feces are stored in refuse tunnels.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D9fWfWLmMcIC&q=chipmunk+refuse+tunnel&pg=PA250 | title=Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | isbn=9780801886829 | date=October 2007 | access-date=2015-09-19 | author=Leslie Day}}</ref>

The eastern chipmunk [[hibernation|hibernates]] in the winter, while western chipmunks do not, relying on the stores in their burrows.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kays|first1=R. W.|first2=Don E.|last2=Wilson|year=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|title=Mammals of North America|edition=2nd|isbn=978-0-691-14092-6|page=72}}</ref>

Chipmunks play an important role as prey for various predatory mammals and birds but are also opportunistic predators themselves, particularly with regard to bird eggs and [[nestling]]s, as in the case of [[eastern chipmunk]]s and [[mountain bluebird]]s (''Siala currucoides'').<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sullivan|first1=Janet|title=WILDLIFE SPECIES: Sialia currucoides|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/bird/sicu/all.html|website=Fire Effects Information System, [Online]|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory|access-date=23 January 2016}}</ref>

Chipmunks typically live about three years, although some have been observed living to nine years in captivity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.essortment.com/information-chipmunks-56048.html |title=Information on Chipmunks |publisher=Essortment.com |date=1986-05-16 |access-date=2012-12-07 |archive-date=2012-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222102625/http://www.essortment.com/information-chipmunks-56048.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Chipmunks are [[Diurnality|diurnal]]. In captivity, they are said to sleep for an average of about 15 hours a day. It is thought that mammals which can sleep in hiding, such as rodents and bats, tend to sleep longer than those that must remain on alert.<ref>Jennifer S. Holland "40 Winks?" (July 2011). ''National Geographic'' Vol. 220, No. 1.</ref>