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Nature's bulldozer: The eastern chipmunk

Mark has returned from a well-deserved two-week vacation at the camp. When he arrives at the house, he comes across a mystery that initially defies comprehension.
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The eastern chipmunk is a fascinating little creature. Sure, it’s not a bird, but our birding columnist, Chris Blomme, writes about them anyway this month. Photo by Chris Blomme
Mark has returned from a well-deserved two-week vacation at the camp. When he arrives at the house, he comes across a mystery that initially defies comprehension.

He notices near the entrance to the side of the house that one of the window wells at ground floor doesn’t look right. He approaches. There to his amazement the well has been filled to several inches above the window sill with sand. “What on earth?” It looks like someone has come along with a load of sand and filled the well intentionally. “Why would anyone do that?”

Later Mark asks his daughter if she has noticed the sand since it is her bedroom within the domicile. It is the fire route if needs be and now it is full of sand. She states that she did not notice, as the curtains hide a lot.

Well nothing to be said but to get that sand out of there. Mark wheels a wheelbarrow over to the window well and with shovel in hand begins to dig. Spade full after spade full he gets one load full in the wheelbarrow and it looks like that will do the trick of empting the well.

Suddenly as he is working he sees a small two inch hole with a blackish stain indicating damper soil. “That is odd,” he thinks.

He completes the task and the wheelbarrow of sand is removed and things look like they will get back to normal but the mystery still remains. Was it a malicious act?

Shortly after he is walking by the area and he is startled that there is a quarter inch full of sand again in the well. “This is preposterous!”

As he takes a closer look he sees the hole again only this time the mystery is solved. Earth is pushed out of the hole in spurts, as he watches. Eventually the culprit reveals himself and Mark realizes it is time for some relocation of an unwanted guest.

The chipmunk reveals its head as it backs out of the hole and Mark now realizes that this ambitious critter is working on a den site.

Amazingly, Mark calculated three cubic feet of soil was moved into the well.

Eastern chipmunks are readily trained to take seeds and peanuts from the hand. Often you may be approached by these small squirrels in parks as they have been trained to receive hand-outs from someone with patience. The long winters in the area are a time for shallow daily torpor rather than long term hibernation in the chipmunk.

They can wake up if the weather is warm and in 1996; the year of little snow, there were sightings of chipmunks on Christmas Day in the reader area.

They need to dig extensive tunnels and dens to get out of the cold, survive a lack of food and secure a safe, relatively warmer site for the winter torpor. The dens are used extensively during the other seasons as well for breeding and security. One example states over thirty feet of tunnelling.

Chipmunks are prone to predation, particularly by house cats, red fox and other carnivores. Two broods a year produce young to sustain the population in a healthy environment.

They can be entertaining to watch in their hoarding abilities, particularly if you run a feeder. It might help explain those sunflowers growing in your yard that you know you did not plant.


Questions and Answers:

Dear Birdman,

Recently at my camp on the French River, I came across a strange sight — a fairly freshly killed robin impaled on a metal rod. My question is: Is it possible a shrike is responsible for this?

Sincerely,
Curious in Alban

Dear Curious,

I would suggest an accidental impalement. This can occur when the bird is distracted by a chasing predator or just strong interaction with other robins. Accidents do occur. This bird looks like it got caught just enough to trap it where it finally succumbed.

Shrikes are fascinating birds. They are in the perching bird group like the American robin and are not hawks, but they do capture live prey, including other birds. There are two shrikes in Ontario, the Loggerhead Shrike and the Northern Shrike, which is seen commonly in our area in late fall and winter.

A shrike kills its prey by using its beak as a bludgeon and repeatedly hitting the skull area of the intended prey. The back of the head would therefore have some trauma to it.

Sincerely,
Chris

Chris Blomme is an executive member of the Sudbury Ornithological Society and works with animals at Laurentian University. Have a question for Chris? Send it to [email protected].

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