California Chipmunk
Tamias obscurus
This diurnal chipmunk is active throughout the year. The greatest amount of foraging and activity takes place in early morning and late afternoon. California chipmunk often creates burrows in logs or steep hillsides that are protected by the use of large boulders.
Family:
Sciuridae (squirrel)
Description:
Through much of their range, California chipmunks are indistinctly colored. During the warmer summer months, the head is pale gray shaded with cinnamon, bordered on the sides with snuff brown, extending down to the snout as clay-redbrown. The facial stripes are dark brown, with blackish stripes around the eyes, offset by paler-gray stripes. On the upper side of the trunk, pelage has dark russet-brown stripes offset by a median pair of the pale gray stripes. The underside pelage is creamy white. The average total length of California chipmunk is 8-9 ½ inches of which the tail comprises 3-4 inches.
Habitat:
They are typically found at elevations between 2500-8500 feet. They are abundant in pinyon-juniper, chamise-redshank and mixed chaparral, and ponderosa pine, often with manzanita or sage, and nearby rocky outcropping habitats within its range.
Range:
California chipmunks can be found throughout the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains of southern California in a series of disjunct populations. Their range also extends southward, across desert ranges into Baja California, reaching as far south as the Sierra de San Francisco.
Diet:
Similar to other chipmunks, California chipmunk likely subsists on a variety of seeds and fruits of grasses, forbs, and shrubs. Some of these items may include pinyon nuts, acorns, along with manzanita and juniper berries.
Breeding:
Not much is known about the mating behavior of this species. The breeding season is long, starting in January and extending into July. During this season, a female can have more than two litters of 3 or 4 young each. The gestation period for these chipmunks is approximately one month
mtm 2-17-21/ok