Foraging behavior in the Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus in northern Michigan.

We investigated foraging behavior in the Eastern chipmunk Tamias striatus. We predicted that females would forage more frequently, and earlier in the day than males. We found trends which showed that females do forage more often than males. However, our results showed that males tend to forage in the morning while females prefer foraging in the afternoon and evening. None of these observed trends proved statistically significant. We also predicted that chipmunks would prefer to forage in forested areas over open areas in order to avoid predators. This preference was not indicated by our results. Observational data indicated that intra-specific competition may be an important factor influencing chipmunk behavior. Possible explanations for these results have been offered.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/54711/1/3152.pdfDescription of 3152.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station