Long-eared chipmunk

The long-eared chipmunk (Tamias quadrimaculatus, also called the Sacramento chipmunk) is a chipmunk of the squirrel family Sciuridae that is abundant and widespread through the northern Sierra Nevada of California, from Plumas County south to Madera County, and in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada. It is found in mixed chaparral, ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, brush fields and Douglas fir at low to mid elevations of about 960 to 2,250 m, often in dense shrubs and along forest edges, and it nests both in trees and in underground burrows. The species is diurnal, spends most of its activity on the forest floor and hides in brush or hollow logs when alarmed, and it hibernates from about the end of October until March, living on fat and on food stored in underground caches. It is an omnivore that feeds mainly on fungi, seeds, berries and other fruits, conifer cones and insects. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its limited range makes habitat protection important.