A very small predator

Posted 8/21/12

Walk near almost any patch of forest, or even your backyard now, and you will either see or hear one or more chipmunks. As they dart around foraging for seeds or nuts and chattering, and perhaps …

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A very small predator

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Walk near almost any patch of forest, or even your backyard now, and you will either see or hear one or more chipmunks. As they dart around foraging for seeds or nuts and chattering, and perhaps eating sunflower seeds out of someone’s hand, the “cuteness” factor is up pretty high for this small member of the squirrel family. But is there another side to this friendly little critter scurrying back and forth on the lawn? All may not be what it seems.

The Eastern chipmunk is considered an omnivore; it not only eats seeds, nuts and other plant material, but it eats meat, of sorts. Before you lose that image of cuteness for the chipmunk, however, it should be said that the chipmunk is not in the same class as a weasel or fisher. A chipmunk will occasionally consume insects, small reptiles, baby mice and bird eggs. A chipmunk is opportunistic in relation to the carnivore side of its diet. It will not go to great lengths to find small prey, but if it happens to find something edible in its travels, it may indulge in an extra snack.

The chipmunk’s craving for eggs has influenced nesting habits of certain species of birds. The canopy-dwelling birds are not affected, as chipmunks will not normally climb trees to forage for eggs in a nest. Rather, ground-nesting birds such as the veery and ovenbird are the ones affected. Researchers Kenneth Schmidt and Quinn Emmerling monitored the nest locations of these two species after playing recorded chipmunk calls, and found that they nested 20 meters further away from the call sites than average. During the experiment, the ground-nesting species were on high alert during playbacks, while canopy dwelling birds were unaffected.

Chipmunks are rarely seen feeding on small animals or eggs; they are more likely to grab one of the plentiful insects around. Most of the time, they are foraging for the usual seeds or nuts. The chipmunk’s occasional dietary supplement is of low impact on the habitat, and the birds at your feeder will be safe because the chipmunks are only interested in the seed on the ground that is spilled by the birds.

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