Allen's chipmunk

Allen's chipmunk (Neotamias senex), also called the shadow chipmunk, is a squirrel relative native to the western United States, where it occurs in California, Oregon and Nevada and is a common species of the Sierra Nevada. It is a mid-sized chipmunk, about 229 to 261 mm long including a tail of 90 to 111 mm, and it weighs roughly 67 to 109 g. Two subspecies are recognised: a dark coastal form with indistinct dorsal stripes, confined to the redwood belt of northern California, and a paler inland form with brownish-yellow fur tinged with smoky gray. Unusually among chipmunks it is largely arboreal and favours old-growth, closed-canopy conifer forest, nesting in fallen logs, hollow trees and old woodpecker holes. It is active by day, hibernates from November to March after laying on fat, and eats mainly fungi along with insects, seeds, flowers and fruit. Females usually bear three to five young in late spring, and individuals have lived as long as eight years in the wild.