Lodgepole chipmunk

The lodgepole chipmunk (Tamias speciosus, also placed in Neotamias) is a small chipmunk of the squirrel family Sciuridae found mainly in California, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada and in the San Bernardino, San Jacinto and San Gabriel mountains, and around Lake Tahoe on the California and Nevada border. It lives in subalpine mixed conifer forest of lodgepole pine, red fir and Jeffrey pine, mostly between 1,500 and 3,300 m and most densely between 2,400 and 3,000 m. Adults weigh roughly 50 to 70 g, females slightly larger than males, and are easily told from neighbouring chipmunks by their prominent black and white facial and dorsal stripes. The animal is diurnal, shy and seldom seen, spends much time on the ground gathering and caching food, and hibernates through the winter. It is an omnivore that eats seeds, nuts, berries, insects, fungi and the eggs of birds. Breeding is in May and early June with litters of three to six pups after about a month of gestation. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern.