Species: Neotamias ruficaudus
Red-tailed Chipmunk
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Sciuridae
Genus
Neotamias
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
tamia à queue rousse
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Rodents
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae - Neotamias - See Sutton (1992) for a key to the species of TAMIAS.
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds on seeds and fruit of various trees and shrubs, also leaves and flowers of various forbs; probably also fungi.
Reproduction Comments
Breeds late April-May, earliest at low elevations. Breeding may extend through August in north. Most adult females become pregnant each year. Gestation lasts about 1 month. In Montana, births occur from late May to mid-June at lower elevations, early to late June at higher elevations. Litter size usually 4-6. Young appear above ground at about 39-45 days (in July). Some live as long as 6-8 years in the wild. See Best (1993).
Ecology Comments
Home range evidently is not more than a few hundred meters across (see Best 1993).
Length
25
Weight
60
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-06
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-06
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S2&CA.BC=S3&US.ID=S3&US.MT=S4&US.WA=S2" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Northeastern Washington eastward through northern Idaho to western Montana, and adjacent southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta; elevations of 720-2400 m (Hoffmann et al., in Wilson and Reeder 1993; Best 1993).