A female chipmunk lives near the boat-launch area of Long Lake Park. Her nipples are visible in these photographs (taken August 21st 2019) indicating that she probably has babies in her nesting tunnel nearby.
Being a very territorial animal, she will stay around home for a long time and her neighbors will have staked out their territories too. It’s a good sign for the health of the forest that she maintains her home in the park. Because chipmunks gather seeds and hide them away in the ground, they help to maintain the forest trees in the long term. To learn more about eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) click the following link:
http://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/mammals/chipmunk.html
Interesting to read Martin’s posts – learning some fun science in our park! Thanks Martin.