Colorado is home to five species of chipmunks; Colorado chipmunk, Hopi chipmunk, Uinta chipmunk, cliff chipmunk, and the least chipmunk. The most widespread chipmunk in Colorado is the least chipmunk.
What do Colorado chipmunks eat?
Chipmunks feed on a variety of food, including seeds and nuts left out in bird feeders. In the wild they feed on seeds, berries, flowers, and other plant material. In lower elevations they feed on juniper berries and prickly-pear. They also eat mountain mahogany, currants, wild cherry, and snowberry.
Are chipmunks protected in Colorado?
Chipmunks are not protected by federal law, but state and local regulations may apply.
What does a Colorado chipmunk look like?
Colorado chipmunks are medium-sized rodents in the squirrel family. Chipmunks are distinguished from ground squirrels in that their faces have a stripe going across under the eye. Fur color of Colorado chipmunks is orange with yellowish-brown on the sides, the head is cinnamon and the belly is white in color.
What is the difference between a chipmunk and a ground squirrel?
They have brown, grayish-brown or reddish-brown fur and are generally similar in size. Chipmunks are usually about 10 inches long, while ground squirrels range from 6 inches to 12 inches. The most telltale difference between the two is the presence of stripes on their heads, or lack thereof.
Are there chipmunks in Denver?
Chipmunk Control Denver. … Colorado is home to the Colorado Chipmunk, Hopi Chipmunk, Uinta Chipmunk, Cliff Chipmunk and the Least Chipmunk.
Is it OK to feed chipmunks?
Although chipmunks like sunflower seeds and peanuts, you want to limit the amount you feed them because they are high in calories and the chipmunk may overindulge and become ill. Choose healthy foods like grapes, cut-up apples, pieces of avocado, pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, oats and dry raisins.
How do I get rid of chipmunks?
Here’s how to get rid of chipmunks in and around your house.
- Get rid of the bird feeder. …
- Prune and clean up trees and bushes. …
- Install an L-shaped footer under a patio, deck or walkway. …
- Remove wood piles. …
- Plant bulbs inside wire cages. …
- Trap and remove them humanely. …
- Try a rodent repellent.
How do chipmunks survive in the winter?
Chipmunks hibernate in winter, but they don’t sleep all the way through the season. They retreat to their burrows and wake every few days to raise their body temperatures to normal, feed on stored food rather than fat reserves, and urinate and defecate.
Does Colorado have flying squirrels?
The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) is common in northern latitudes of the US and Canada, but its range barely extends down into northwest Colorado. Just reaching a suitable site to search for them is a long drive on rough jeep roads into some of Colorado’s most remote country.
Can I hunt on my own property in Colorado?
Hunting on private land in Colorado requires permission from the owner or occupant. Hunters are required to make a reasonable attempt to recover wounded wildlife, but they cannot pursue wounded wildlife onto private property without first making a reasonable attempt to contact the owner.
Can you hunt squirrels in Colorado?
There are three species of squirrel you can hunt in Colorado: Fox, Pine, and Abert’s. Knowing the difference between these species is very important because the possession limits and bag limits vary from species to species. If you harvest too many of one species thinking it’s another, you can get a ticket.
How do you identify a chipmunk?
Chipmunks are small mammals with distinct stripes, while the tree squirrel is larger and doesn’t have stripes. The ground squirrel has body stripes like chipmunks, but no head stripes. A tree squirrel is larger, has a longer tail and no stripes. They all have short fur and small rounded ears.
What is the difference between a prairie dog and a ground squirrel?
Once the pups come above ground, young prairie dogs can be confused with adult ground squirrels because they are similar in size. … If it has one, it is a prairie dog. Utah prairie dogs also have white-tipped tails. Ground squirrels will have a white eye-ring around the entire eye.
Do all chipmunks have stripes?
Chipmunks can be a little confusing. They are members of the squirrel family, but they aren’t the only squirrels out there with stripes. In other words, all chipmunks are striped squirrels, but not all striped squirrels are chipmunks.
Can a chipmunk climb a tree?
Chipmunks are basically tiny squirrels (1 to 5 ounces) that have adapted to burrowing. … Chipmunks prefer forested areas and can climb trees, shrubs andbirdfeeders. They eat various types of seeds as well as fungus, helping to spread the mycorrhizal fungi that live around tree roots and are critical to tree survival.
Can squirrels and chipmunks mate?
Do Squirrels and Chipmunks Mate? No. They barely deign to notice each other in passing as they go about their daily lives. Although they’re both members of the Sciuridae family of rodents, they have so little in common there’s really nothing to attract them or bring them together.
Where do chipmunks nest?
underground burrows While some chipmunks make nests in logs or bushes, most prefer to dig vast underground burrows.
Do chipmunks live in mountains?
Chipmunks are excellent tree climbers and swimmers who live in a variety of habitats, including plains, mountains, forests, and deserts. … Chipmunks like to live alone in holes or burrows called dens. Chipmunks hibernate in cold weather, which means they spend most of the winter sleeping in their dens.
Where do Western chipmunks live?
Chipmunk Geography All species of chipmunks are native to North America, except one – the Siberian chipmunk. As indicated by its name, the eastern chipmunk inhabits most of the eastern half of the United States and Canada. Western chipmunks inhabit the western states as well as most of Canada.
Do least chipmunks hibernate?
The Least Chipmunk, like other chipmunks, are diurnal and are active during the day and sleep in their burrows at night. In cold winter months, it will spend its days underground, periodically waking up to feed on stored food. Unlike the Eastern Chipmunk, the Least Chipmunk does not hibernate.
Where do chipmunks sleep at night?
burrows Chipmunks are part of the squirrel family, although their habits are nothing like their larger, grey cousins. There are 21 varieties of chipmunks in North America, but they all sleep in underground burrows. Chipmunks hibernate during the winter months, although they don’t sleep the whole time as most hibernators do.
Do chipmunks carry diseases?
What Diseases Do Chipmunks Carry? Common chipmunk diseases include leptospirosis, salmonella, Hantavirus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, encephalitis, rabies, and the plague.
Are chipmunks bad to have around your house?
On a residential property, chipmunk burrowing can cause some destructive, structural damage. Since they often choose to dig their tunnels under sidewalks and driveways, near the concrete patios, porches, stairs, retention walls, and the foundation, this activity can weaken the supports leading to damage to these areas.
How many chipmunks usually live together?
Some of the results of my search were ambiguous at best, but here’s what I found out when I dug into the question, How many chipmunks live in a burrow? Research indicates that, except for when a mother is raising her babies, only one chipmunk lives in a burrow.
What smell do chipmunks hate?
Contrary to the noses of humans, chipmunks absolutely can’t stand the smells of certain strong oils like peppermint, citrus, cinnamon, and eucalyptus. Additionally, chipmunks can’t stand the smell of garlic.
Do chipmunks and rats get along?
Can chipmunks survive a fall?
This constant velocity is special for any falling body, and is known as its terminal velocity. No object will fall faster than it’s terminal velocity, no matter what height it is dropped from. … This means that their terminal velocity is actually quite low, and squirrels can survive impacts of that velocity.
