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Cheek pouches are pockets on both sides of the head of some mammals between the jaw and the cheek. They can be found on mammals including the platypus, some rodents, and most monkeys, [1] [2] as well as the marsupial koala. [3] The cheek pouches of chipmunks can reach the size of their body when full.
However, recorded observations of chipmunks carrying soil in their cheek pouches are extremely limited. John Burroughs is noted as having written that "I used to think that the chipmunk carried away the soil in his cheek pouches, and have so-stated in one of my books [ Riverby , 1894], but I am now certain that he does not—only his food ...
An eastern chipmunk placing food in its cheek pouch. Chipmunks have an omnivorous diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts and other fruits, and buds. [9] [10] They also commonly eat grass, shoots, and many other forms of plant matter, as well as fungi, insects and other arthropods, small frogs, worms, and bird eggs.
Fungi, however, consistently serves as the chipmunk's primary food source, averaging around 60% of its food intake but getting as high as 99% when in virgin conifer forests. Allen's chipmunk uses its cheek pouches for food storage—primarily fungi—but has also been noted as the only species of chipmunk that collected the seeds that it ate. [4]
The gray-collared chipmunk grows to a total length of about 225 mm (9 in) including a tail of around 98 mm (4 in). The forehead is greyish-brown and the side of the head bears three dark stripes, the central one of which passes through the eye. These are separated by bands of white. The cheeks, neck, shoulders, upper back, and rump are grey.
The merriam’s chipmunk has a mainly herbivorous diet. It forages daily for food and carries seeds or acorns in its cheek pouches, often to be cached in the ground. Acorns are a major part of its diet, especially from valley oak trees. Other sources of food include the seeds, nuts, and berries of a variety of plants, insects, and larvae. [3]
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The Siskiyou chipmunk is closest in appearance to Allen's chipmunk (Neotamias senex) and the yellow-cheeked chipmunk (Neotamias ochrogenys). [2] Its coat is brown-gray, with a pattern of five dark brown and four gray stripes along its back; the central stripe tends to be blackish and darker in color compared to the other stripes.