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Chipmunks

Least chipmunk is reported to have been used as food by the Plains Cree; women and children used snares to catch the animal [1].

References

1. Mandelbaum DG: The Plains Cree: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Comparative Study, vol. 1st edition. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center; 1979.

Chipmunks are small, striped rodents, represented by several species in North America, including the least chipmunk (Tamias minimus). They are in the same large family as the marmots, ground squirrels, and tree squirrels. Chipmunks are the smallest member of this family, and spend more time on the ground than tree squirrels and less time underground than marmots and ground squirrels. Chipmunks have external cheek pouches that they fill with seeds that are stored underground as a winter food sources.

Reference

Forsyth A: Mammals of North America: Temperate and arctic regions. Willowdale, ON: Firefly Books; 1999.

Images provided below were obtained from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - North American Mammals. Available from http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/.

Least chipmunk
Credit: painting by Nancy Halliday from Kays and Wilson's Mammals of North America, © Princeton University Press (2002)

Credit: Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy — Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International — CABS, World Wildlife Fund — US, and Environment Canada — WILDSPACE.

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Traditional Animal Foods of Indigenous Peoples of Northern North America

The contributions of wildlife diversity to the subsistence and nutrition of indigenous cultures

Harriet V. Kuhnlein and Murray M. Humphries

Chipmunks

References

Reference