Where have all the chipmunks gone ?

[sprucebunny]

Sung to the tune involving flowers...

We have no chipmunks at all. Usually they start coming out when the snow is almost gone. There also aren't any red squirrels.

I think the long winter with thick ice under the snow has smothered the poor little things. I know some people don't like them but both are part of the food chain so what will foxes, owls, raptors and coyotes eat ???

Anyone else missing the little stripey guys ?

[terrifictimbersllc]

We saw red squirrels near Rockwood, ME this week. Ornery as ever. 

[Jeff]

Clearly they are all here again.

[Chuck White]

Here we have Chipmunks, Red Squirrels, Gray Squirrels and Black Squirrels!

And the Black cat is still coming around, hoping that the electric fence around the garden patch isn't hot anymore!   

[thecfarm]

They are showing up at the hardware store.

[Southside]

They are with the cowboys Paula Cole was singing about... 

[GAB]

Sprucebunny:
Bring your traps and plenty of bait as there is an excess of them here.
The neighbor says many are failing there final exams in swimming as they are fishing many out of the pool.
Gerald

[sprucebunny]

Southside- I was thinking of the Pete Seeger song recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962 on thier debut album. Are they the same tune ?

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - Wikipedia

I'm not the only person in this area who has noticed they are missing. We had our first snow that stayed on Nov. 1. That usually doesn't happen until mid December. They probably hadn't stored enough seeds or smothered/drowned under the slush and ice.

Thanks for the replies, everyone  

[Woodpecker52]

I would think they burrow into the earth or fallen or hollow trees and do not lay around in the snow or ice.  I assume they also hibernate like bears etc.

[Woodpecker52]

From the look of my tractor wiring I think they like farm equipment to over winter in also.

[Old Greenhorn]

They treat my woodpile like a condominium complex ;D. Once I got the woodpile re-stocked I saw a lot of activity, but then a new black cat showed up and started hanging around driving our house cats nuts. I saw that cat trot off with a little guy in his mouth one evening. That cat had an orange tabby buddy he bummed around with, I saw them both down in the woodlot and caught the black one on the game cam more than a few times. Haven't seen much of them in the last week or so though. Maybe they ran out of chipmunks. I kind of like the little guys, but the wife does not. The only 'harm' they seem to do is leave small nests in the woodpile here and there. The wife said something about her plants, but I dunno. I think the rabbits and the deer pretty much cover the plant issue.

[Crusarius]

I noticed the same thing with them disappearing. then I saw fisher tracks in the pond. I am pretty sure I figured out where they went.

Dinnertime!

The fishers seem to have moved on, because the population is coming back pretty strong.

[Lko67]

Fishers,hawks,bobcat got all my small game about done turkeys also.  Had 3 or 4 drop off cats running around the bobcat got all them.

[Chuck White]

Chipmunks do hibernate and they come back out in early Spring!

I've noticed (in this area anyways) that domestic cats will kill chipmunks, but they won't eat them!

[sprucebunny]

Well, there are neighbor cats and the population has been dwindling but I'm amazed to have none and no red sq. . As I said, other people in this valley have noticed it so it's not just because the cats are extra good hunters right here !

Chipmunks around me have holes in the ground. They aren't very fond of heights or tree climbing like the squirrels.
Chipmunk - Wikipedia

I always figured they woke up a little in winter: otherwize, why would they store so many seeds ???

In summer they do spend lots of time in a firewood pile that's been there a couple years.

[Chuck White]

Oh, if we get a warm spell during the Winter, they will come out of hibernation!

[bags]

No chipmunks, ground squirrels or mice around here--- the barn cats (pic) eat just about everything that's a bit smaller than them--- got another herd of wild ones out by the sawmill.

[Logger RK]

I must say I havnt seen any this spring yet either.But I have Oreilo's at my feeder. They skipped coming around last summer. 

[sawguy21]

Come to think of it I haven't seen a chipmunk for a long time. Brown squirrels are plentiful though. We are seeing racoons which must be escaping high property prices around Vancouver. ;D They were virtually unknown in this area when I was a kid.

[Chuck White]

Wow, that's a lot of cats, I count 25 in that pic!

Overall, glad it's you and not me!  ;)

No doubt about it, you are a cat person! ;D

[LeeB]

That is a lot of cats. Please tell me have had them fixed. 

[bags]

The coyotes and lions clean out around half of them through each winter--- population control--- then they start all over again in the spring. 

[thecfarm]

I had a cat that I would see have a chipmucks in his mouth weekly.

[WV Sawmiller]

   There are swarms of chipmunks everywhere here right now. I walked out to my wood storage shed yesterday and one was sitting on top of a pile of basswood. He ducked down between the stacks when I got close.

   Today I went to put out some minnow traps in my creek so I can go crappie fishing in the morning. I leave my traps on the creek bank tied to limbs and trees and my bridge and such convenient to the pools I am going to put them in. When I picked up my first trap to bait it today this little guy was in there. He did not look like he had been in there long as he was still very active and healthy looking. He took a long leap off my front porch when I freed him.


 I guess the lesson learned is to be sure the traps are open so critters don't get trapped and die in them. I had a 2' water snake in one I had left in the creek. He seemed happy to leave too.

[petefrom bearswamp]

They'r Heeeere buy the butt load