Installing chicken wire as a barrier is recommended to keep them out of your garden.īoth chipmunks and squirrels are nearly identical, small, and cute animals. They often strip tree barks to build their nests. They are noisy and they can cause damage by digging up bulbs, eating buds and shoots. They may eat away the peanuts kept in bird feeders. They may dwell in your chimney or attic, spreading filth. They may enter your house in search of food or to store food. Nuisance Value ChipmunksĬhipmunks are much less likely to enter your house, and cause damage. They make sounds ‘que, que, que’, or they warn their friends and family members of danger by making rapid clicking sounds – kuk, kuk, kuk…They flick their tails while calling. They must have got their name from the ‘chip-chip’ sound that they make. Sometimes, the calls sound like bird chirps. Sound ChipmunksĬhipmunks make clucking sounds. Kittens being blind, depend on their mothers for 2-3 months. Squirrels breed once or twice a year and give birth to a varying number of kittens (2-8) after three to six weeks, depending on species. The young ones start collecting their food on their own after about 8 weeks. The gestation period is of about 30 days. Western chipmunks breed only once a year. Breeding ChipmunksĮastern chipmunks mate in early spring as well as in early summer, and give birth to 4-5 babies twice every year. Red and gray squirrels lead solitary life. Ground-dwelling squirrels are quite social. Usually, they ignore one another, except during the spring, when mating takes place. They are solitary creatures and independent mammals. Some ground squirrels hibernate during the winter season. They slowly gnaw away the nuts and seeds, that they collect and store during summer. Like other hibernating animals, they don’t store fat. They are mostly found on trees, but they also come down, run on ground, and collect food. They quickly hide behind rocks and trees, and stay away from predators like hawks, foxes, and snakes. You can locate them in areas with underbrush, rocks, and logs. They climb trees to obtain nuts, but generally, they collect food on the ground. Some squirrels eat only insects while some eat eggs, insects, small birds, smaller rodents, and even young snakes. In case of scarcity of food, a squirrel may consume meat. They eat nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi, roots, leaves, caterpillars, and green vegetation. They eat grass, nuts, buds, seeds, fruits, vegetables, worms, insects and other arthropods, small frogs and bird eggs along with various other forms of plant matter. They may live up to 20 years in captivity. Some live up to 10 years in the wild, although 3-5 years is the average life span for adults. Most squirrels die in the first year of life. They typically live for about three years, however, they can live up to nine years in captivity. More than 200 squirrel species have been identified by the scientists. Neotamias, which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western, species. Eutamias, which includes the Siberian chipmunk and 3. Tamias that includes the eastern chipmunk, 2. According to some, they belong to three genera: 1. According to some researchers, they belong to a single genus Tamias. African pygmy squirrel is only five inches long from nose to tail, while the Indian giant squirrel is three feet long. Tree squirrels are 12 to 20 inches (38 – 52 cm) in length. Ground squirrels range from 8 to 12 inches (25 – 30 cm) in length. The size and weight may vary according to the species. These are usually larger and heavier than chipmunks. The Eastern chipmunk can be 11 inches long and may weigh as much as 4.4 ounces. The ‘Least chipmunk’ (Tamias minimus) can be 7.2 to 8.5 inches long and it may weigh as much as 1.1 to 1.8 ounces. They range from 6 to 12 inches (16 – 30 cm) in length. These are generally smaller and lighter than squirrels.
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