They are smaller than squirrels, measuring 8 to 10 inches long, including 3 to 4 inches of tail. Unlike squirrels, chipmunks spend most of their time foraging on the ground, climbing trees only occasionally.Ĭhipmunks have distinctive coloring - reddish brown fur, a black stripe down the center of its back and a set of two black stripes. The chipmunk is most active in early morning and late afternoon, gathering and storing seeds, nuts, acorns and berries.
The eastern chipmunk prefers open woodlands or forest edges, with plenty of cover and dry hillsides for digging burrows. Staff biologists are specifically interested in sightings in Robeson, New Hanover, Brunswick, Onslow, Duplin, Sampson, Bladen, Cumberland, Moore, Montgomery, Anson and Richmond counties.Ĭhipmunks are found in urban and rural habitats. It is likely a case of hitchhiking, however we’d like the public to notify us of any chipmunk sightings east of Wake County,” said Andrea Shipley, a mammalogist with the Wildlife Commission.
“We recently received an observation with photos of a chipmunk in the Wilmington area. Wildlife Resources Commission has biologists wondering if its range has expanded to Eastern North Carolina. RALEIGH - Chipmunks in North Carolina are only known to live north and west of Wake county, however, a recent photograph submitted to the N.C.