The latest photos by Betsy Seeton

HOW TO IDENTIFY SQUIRRELS, CHIPMUNKS AND GROUND SQUIRRELS

1/12/2017

How To Tell Them Apart

Young ground squirrel

Stripes. It's all in the stripes when comparing a chipmunk to any squirrel. Chipmunks have stripes all the way up and down their little bodies clear to the tip of their noses. Ground squirrels have stripes on their bodies but not anywhere on their face. Fox squirrels have NO stripes. If you know nothing else about them, knowing about stripes will tell you what you're seeing.

Size. Chipmunks are the smallest of the 3 kinds of animals. They are noticeably smaller. Ground squirrels are not good climbers. Fox Squirrels are terrific climbers and you'll see them navigating fences, trees and dumpsters with ease. Chipmunks can scale anything too. They'll zip up the side of a cabin like they have super powers.

Color. Between eastern and fox squirrels, the obvious way to tell them apart is by color. Fox squirrels are much more copper/orange-ish while eastern squirrels are predominantly gray and white.

Ground Squirrels - Colorado

Ground squirrel

These are all ground squirrels

Ground squirrel

Baby ground squirrel

Fox Squirrels - Colorado

Chipmunks - Colorado
(note the striped nose)

www.foralltheanimals.com

The pair of chipmunks pictured above were mates. I called them Albert & Alberta. They truly exhibited love toward one another and would snuggle and protect one another. They often explored together and didn't fight over food. The came when I called and crawled up my pant leg to see me. They lived at 10,000 feet elevation in the heart of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

GROUND SQUIRRELS of Colorado

Ground squirrel on the left and chipmunks on the right. See how the stripe goes up to the tip of the nose on the chipmunks?

Chippy and the crew .....

This is Jasper, son of Chippy.

I guess you could say Chippy is a family name. My brother and I had a pet chipmunk named Chippy when we were growing up in the 1960's. We found him in an old tin can and rescued him; he was barely breathing. I would never cage one of these animals again. At the time, I was about 9 years old and became very attached to him after he recovered. In hindsight, I should've released him back into the woods. That's where he belonged. The pictures here show a new Chippy - happily living in the wild -- among a lot of other wild critters living nearby. It's a great privilege interacting with them.

MORE GROUND SQUIRRELS

Chippy (ground squirrel) and her baby.

Below is an Eastern Gray Squirrel

Best squirrel "thumb" photo I've ever taken!

Here's a good illustration of how to read squirrel body language. In the first photo on the left, the squirrel has turned her back to the bowl of bird seed after hearing me near the window. This is an overt sign of caution. The squirrel is assessing the danger. After a few moments, she turns back to the bowl. I've remained still. She started to eat and then I began to open the sliding glass door. She pauses again. This time with one paw pulled close to her chest. This is a sign of caution, but she's only half concerned. She goes back to eating after I've again become still. The fourth photo at the right, shows what she does when she hears the sliding glass door begin to open again. When a squirrel pulls both paws to her chest, she is deeply considering whether there is a potential threat. She focuses intently during this pose and is on high alert.

A Western Gray Squirrel from the Rocky Mountains

Below are three photos of a mountain gray, tree squirrel. The tail is noticeably less fluffy than the eastern gray squirrel. Their personality is much more "squirrely". They exhibit noisy frustration when a human begins to communicate with them. Overall, they are much for verbal than any either the fox or eastern squirrel. They often chatter off and on through out the day in the high mountains.

Eating a dried mushroom he had stashed under my cabin.

Chipmunk by Betsy Seeton

ANIMAL ACTIVISM THROUGH IMAGES
by Betsy Seeton

The summer of 2009, I trained my wild chipmunk friends and ground squirrels to 'hold' flags from various countries around the world. I would use the photos to post on a blog about animal related issue in the corresponding country.