Tamias
ruficaudus
(Red-tailed Chipmunk)
Description:
This is a fairly large chipmunk:
total length is 8 ¾ to 10 inches (223-248 mm), tail length 4 to 4 ¼ inches (101-122
mm), and they weigh about 2 1/8 ounce (60 g). They are a tawny
(sandy) color on their
back and sides, their rump is gray, their tail is reddish above and dark reddish
below. They have three median blackish stripes with brownish outer stripes on
their back, and their cheeks have 2 white and 3 brown stripes.
Range:
From central Rocky Mountains
in southern British Columbia and Alberta, south to northwestern Washington,
northern Idaho, and western Montana.
Habitat:
Found in coniferous forests, including spruce/fir,
cedar/hemlock, yellow pine, and (at timberline) alpine fir. Seems to prefer
dense cover where range overlaps with yellow pine chipmunk. Idaho study indicated
red-tailed chipmunks prefer mid-successional forests.
Diet:
Not a lot is known about their feeding habits or ecology, but they probably
feed on seeds, fungi, and fruits.
Ecology:
Like most chipmunks
they are probably inactive during the coldest part of the winter, waking periodically
to feed from their food cache. They actively forage
on the ground, but this species may climb trees more readily than other chipmunks.
Reproduction:
Probably similar to other western
chipmunks which mate in spring and, following Gestation period of approximately
1 mo, produce a litter of altricial young.
Conservation:
 Status: |
 Protected
nongame species |
|
Global Rank: |
|
|
State Rank: |
S4 |
Important State References:
Scrivner, J.H. and H.D. Smith. 1984.
Relative abundance of small mammals in four successional stages of spruce-fir
in Idaho. Northwest Sci. 58:171-176.