The chipmunk.
Cute.
Cheeky.
Vicious predator?
From adorable nut hoarder, to tireless tunnel builder, to ferocious snake killer,
this neurotic multitasking rodent has many jobs, and it excels at all of them.
This is the cheekiest cutie in the world, the chipmunk.
Hi, I'm Danielle Dufault and you're watching Animalogic.
Today we're on the lookout for one of the most adorable
and low-key deadliest animals; the chipmunk.
These cute little rodents look like tiny squirrels,
but they have carved themselves a separate niche.
Most squirrels are amazing climbers who spend the majority of their time in the trees.
In some areas in North America you can hardly look around without seeing a
squirrel staring back at you with those cold, cold squirrel eyes.
See?
Chipmunks are a little harder to see because they live in burrows in the ground,
and they're really good at hiding them.
It's super hard to find a chipmunk burrow entrance.
But luckily, today I'm on a trail that's known to be prime chipmunk territory.
In my neck of the woods there's only one species, the eastern chipmunk,
which lives from southern Canada to southeastern United States.
But there are over 20 other species found in North America,
many of which are found in the diverse ecosystems in the west.
There's also one species of chipmunk in Siberia, which has been introduced to Japan.
They all basically look the same.
They're all brown with black and white stripes down their back.
And they're all crazy cute.
This colouration helps them camouflage from predators by breaking the outline of their body.
It's a necessary adaptation as they have a huge roster of potential predators.
Owls, hawks, snakes, weasels,
raccoons, even domestic cats and dogs are more than happy to have a chipmunk amuse-bouche.
And it's really no wonder they're so skittish;
their only real defense mechanism is hiding in their burrows.
They are fantastic engineers and can make burrows with separate chambers for debris,
food storage, and sleeping quarters.
They even have separate chambers to store their feces, you know, gotta keep clean.
The burrows aren't usually very deep
but they extend parallel to the surface for up to three metres.
All of this was dug by a small animal was only about as big as a little banana.
Whenever they're inside they plug the entrance so well that they're nearly invisible.
When they're digging a new burrow or chamber,
they use work tunnels, which are separate from the main entrance.
This helps them take out soil without creating conspicuous
dirt mounds near their burrow entrance.
To take dirt out, they put it in their mouth,
which can expand greatly due to their elastic cheeks.
These huge cheeks are also used to transport food into their burrow.
Just to give you an idea, the current chipmunk record holders
have been recorded holding 70 sunflower seeds, 31 corn kernels, and 12 acorns.
That's basically the equivalent of you holding an entire puma in your mouth.
But they can't get every little seed or spore.
In fact, in North America they're one of the most important means of
dispersion of every fancy chef's favourite subterranean ingredient, truffle mushrooms.
Without chipmunks, truffles might not exist.
Of course, hours of digging and running around in the mud makes them very dirty,
which is why they spend about half of their day cleaning themselves.
They can reach almost every part of their body with their teeth and tongue.
Lucky.
And they also used the cat method of moistening their hands with saliva
to clean the inaccessible parts like the back of their head.
Contrary to the lies that Disney told you about Chip and Dale,
chipmunks never really live in trees, and they certainly don't live with their brothers.
These rodents are fiercely territorial loners.
Every morning chipmunks come out of the burrow, climb onto a branch about 2 metres off the ground,
and chirp as loud as they can for about 10 minutes.
This is a territorial call that can be heard for up to 200 metres away.
And it sounds like this...
Which is chipmunk for: "This land is my land, kindly (beep) off."
Their burrows have a max occupancy of one, except for when mamma has babies,
or when females let males enter their domain to mate.
Males, who are famously silly billies, often fight each other for access to
the females for so long that they end up completely missing their chance to mate.
This is a stressful time for the females not only because of the guys knocking at their door,
but also because they need to get ready for pregnancy.
Normally their diet is what you'd expect for a rodent:
seeds, nuts, some mushrooms, and whatever bug or worm that comes their way.
But during the mating season something changes.
They become miniature killing machines, and start going after lizards,
birds, and other rodents, all in search for a little extra animal fats and proteins.
But when they're really feeling confident, they'll go after something far more dangerous...
Snakes.
Here in Ontario, Eastern Chipmunks are known to hunt Northern Watersnakes.
These snakes can grow to over a metre in length - over five times the length of a chipmunk.
While not venomous, the watersnake's pure bulk alone is a threat to the chipmunk.
But this chippie is feeling bold.
She's searching the rocks for dinner.
Avoiding the larger snakes, she gets lucky and finds a juvenile.
Caught by surprise, the snake didn't stand a chance,
and before it could react, the chippie was eating it from the middle out.
Which I think we can all agree is the weirdest possible way to eat a snake.
Come on.
One of the adaptations they have that allows them to take on such dangerous prey are their
highly advanced visual systems, which allows them to essentially see in slow motion.
Chipmunks and other small mammals and birds have a higher critical flicker fusion frequency than
we do - this basically means that their eyes refresh much faster than ours do,
allowing them to process light much quicker, and see it in a form of "slow motion".
This allows them to dodge the insanely fast strike of a highly venomous Japanese pit viper,
and retaliate before the viper can recover.
And then eat the snake in the second weirdest way possible - face first.
Do they not know that the proper way to eat a snake is tail first?
Or on a bun with spicy mayo?
After their thirst for blood has been quenched they go to their burrows to give birth.
Babies emerge about six weeks later and a couple of weeks after that
they'll get officially kicked out of their burrow.
Then they'll have to travel out on their own until they find an empty plot.
But they'll have to be quick as they'll need to find one before winter.
Then eastern chipmunks will go into hibernation
and the western species will stay awake but will have to rely on their food reserves.
Going into winter unprepared is a death sentence.
Only about 60 percent of eastern chipmunks will make it to spring.
But those who do make it will awaken to an abundance of food.
The entire process of eating seeds, digging burrows, killing snakes,
and joining Alvin's cover band will start all over again.
So what should we talk about next?
Please let me know in the comments and be sure to subscribe for new episodes every week.
Thanks for watching and see ya!
I grew up in Northern Quebec where these guys
were just running rampant in all directions at all times.
And of course you would try and make friends with the woodland creatures.
Doing my best to become a tiny druid in training.
My brother and I called every single chipmunk that we ever met, Chipper.
Very original, I know.
You know, that's what they are, they're little chippers.