Sunday, March 4, 2012

Chipmunk Building Nest

My son was enchanted by this chipmunk preparing its winter den in our yard, and made this video through the window. This was in October, 2011, just days before the Halloween snow storm. Chipmunks line their dens with leaves and other debris, and here you will see it selecting leaves and folding them up into its mouth for easy transport. We watched for quite a while, and noticed that the animal seemed extremely picky, rejecting leaf after leaf until finding just the right one (and you can see it reject a leaf in the middle of the video). But then a minute later, it would select a previously rejected leaf and carry it down the hole. This went on until almost all of the leaves within a few feet of the entry hole were taken.
http://youtu.be/mWpBMXq2dB0
Janet

3 comments:

  1. Nicely done. I enjoyed this video. I know they can sometimes be pests, but I've always been a big fan of chipmunks. They're definitely among the cuter critters out there.

    It's pretty funny that youtube directs you to all those Alvin & the Chipmunk clips when this video ends.

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  2. Question: Where are all the chipmunks now? Anyone seen any? I think the little critters must have had a very tough winter.

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  3. Good question! I've been wondering the same thing. I don't think the one we videotaped above ever emerged from his winter slumber. I wondered if the lack of snowy insulation made them more vulnerable to the cold? Although it was never very cold for very long. I really don't know.

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