What Do Chipmunks Eat?
Chipmunks are omnivorous rodents that have a diverse diet. Their food preferences may vary depending on the available resources and their specific habitat. Here is what chipmunks eat:
- Seeds and Nuts: Chipmunks are renowned for their love of seeds and nuts. They often collect and store seeds in their cheek pouches to eat later.
- Fruits: Chipmunks enjoy a variety of fruits. They are opportunistic feeders and will consume ripe fruits they come across.
- Vegetation: Green plants are also a part of their diet. Chipmunks eat leaves, stems, and even some types of fungi. They can forage for plants in their immediate environment.
- Insects and Small Invertebrates: While primarily herbivorous, chipmunks do occasionally consume insects and small invertebrates. This behavior is more common during periods of food scarcity or when they need extra protein.
- Fungi: Some chipmunk species, like the Eastern Chipmunk, are known to consume fungi, including mushrooms, as part of their diet.
- Bird Eggs: Chipmunks are opportunistic and may raid bird nests to eat eggs. This is especially true during the breeding season when protein-rich food sources are important for nursing mothers and their offspring.
- Human Food: Chipmunks living near human settlements may scavenge for human food, including crumbs, leftover snacks, and pet food.
- Caches: Chipmunks are also known for collecting and storing food in underground caches, particularly during the fall. They create burrows where they keep their hoarded food, allowing them to have a supply during the winter months.
- Water: Chipmunks obtain most of their water from the food they eat. However, they may also drink from available water sources like streams or puddles.
Chipmunks have specific dietary preferences depending on their geographic location and the season. Their diet is adaptable, allowing them to survive in various environments. These small rodents play a crucial role in seed dispersal and ecosystem health, as their caching behavior can help with reforestation and plant distribution.
What Seeds & Nuts Do Chipmunks Eat?
Chipmunks are well-known for their affinity for nuts, and have strong jaws and sharp incisors that allow them to open the shells of nuts to access the nutritious kernels inside. Chipmunks are adept at foraging, storing, and retrieving nuts from their underground burrows for later consumption. Their ability to store and retrieve these nuts helps sustain them during the winter months when food is less abundant. Chipmunks eat a wide variety of nuts. Here are some of the nuts that chipmunks commonly eat:
Do Chipmunks Eat Acorns?
Yes—chipmunks do eat acorns, and they are an important natural food source for them.
Chipmunks commonly consume acorns from oak trees, especially smaller or partially cracked acorns that they can handle more easily. They gnaw through the shell to reach the nutrient-dense seed, which is rich in fats and carbohydrates—critical for maintaining energy and building winter reserves.
Acorns are especially valuable in late summer and fall, when chipmunks intensively forage and cache food. They frequently transport acorns in their cheek pouches and store them in underground burrows, sometimes stockpiling hundreds of individual food items. A heavy acorn drop year (mast year) often leads to increased chipmunk survival and activity the following season.
Do Chipmunks Eat Beech Nuts?
Yes—chipmunks do eat beech nuts, and they are one of their most favored natural food sources.
Beech nuts come from American beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) and are small, triangular nuts enclosed in a spiny husk. Their small size and thin shell make them ideal for chipmunks, which can easily open, transport, and cache them.
Chipmunks consume beech nuts heavily in late summer and fall, when nuts drop to the forest floor. They often collect large quantities, storing them in underground burrows using their cheek pouches. Beech nuts are high in fats and carbohydrates, making them especially valuable for building winter reserves.
Do Chipmunks Eat Birdseed?
Yes—chipmunks readily eat birdseed, and it is one of the most common human-related food sources supporting them. Chipmunks consume mixed seed blends, sunflower seeds, cracked corn, millet, and other grains, often feeding beneath bird feeders or climbing them directly. Birdseed provides high calories with minimal effort, making it especially attractive and capable of sustaining larger chipmunk populations and repeated activity near homes, decks, and foundations.
Do Chipmunks Eat Chestnuts?
Yes—chipmunks do eat chestnuts, and they treat them as a valuable high-energy food source.
Nut Access and Preference: Chipmunks can gnaw through the shells of smaller or cracked chestnuts to reach the edible seed. While large, intact chestnuts may be more efficiently handled by squirrels, chipmunks focus on nuts they can manage without excessive effort.
Seasonal Foraging: Chestnuts typically fall in late summer and early fall, perfectly aligning with chipmunks’ preparation for winter. The nuts’ high fat and carbohydrate content make them ideal for storing in underground caches.
Chestnuts are therefore a highly attractive food item for chipmunks, contributing to both their energy intake and their cache-building behavior during the fall months.
Do Chipmunks Eat Hazelnuts?
Yes—chipmunks do eat hazelnuts (filberts), and they are a highly preferred nut for them.
Hazelnuts are especially attractive to chipmunks because they are small, energy-dense, and relatively thin-shelled, compared with many other tree nuts. Chipmunks can gnaw through the shell efficiently or take advantage of cracked or weathered nuts on the ground.
Hazelnuts are heavily used in late summer and fall, when chipmunks intensively forage and build underground food caches for winter. They frequently transport hazelnuts in their cheek pouches, often removing the outer husk first, and store them in burrows along with other nuts and seeds.
Do Chipmunks Eat Hickory Nuts?
Yes—chipmunks do eat hickory nuts, and they are an important high-fat, high-calorie food source for them.
Nut Preference and Access: Chipmunks prefer hickory nuts that are smaller, cracked, or easier to handle, as the shells of mature hickory nuts are very hard. They will gnaw through thinner-shelled or partially damaged nuts to access the seed inside.
Seasonal Foraging: Hickory nuts are typically harvested in late summer and fall, aligning with the chipmunks’ active period of food collection and caching. They are especially valuable in preparing for winter, providing dense energy in a small, transportable package.
Hickory nuts are thus a highly attractive food source that significantly influences chipmunk foraging patterns and local population density.
Do Chipmunks Eat Pecans?
Yes—chipmunks do eat pecans, though they generally target smaller, cracked, or partially exposed nuts because intact pecan shells are quite hard.
Nut Preference and Handling: Chipmunks are capable of gnawing through thinner or damaged shells to reach the high-fat, calorie-rich seedinside. Whole, fresh pecans are more often exploited by squirrels, while chipmunks focus on leftovers or more manageable nuts.
Seasonal Activity: Pecans ripen in late summer through fall, coinciding with the chipmunks’ period of active foraging and food caching. This makes them an important supplemental energy source for winter survival.
Pecans, like other tree nuts, are highly attractive to chipmunks and contribute to their foraging intensity and cache-building behavior during the months leading up to winter.
Do Chipmunks Eat Pine Cones?
Yes—chipmunks do eat pinecones, but more precisely, they eat the seeds inside pinecones, not the woody cone itself.
Chipmunks commonly forage beneath pine trees, where they collect fallen cones and gnaw between the scales to extract the nutrient-rich pine seeds. These seeds are high in fats and carbohydrates, making them an excellent energy source, particularly in late summer and fall when chipmunks are actively building food caches for winter.
They will often carry small cones to a feeding spot or partially dismantle them on-site, leaving behind chewed cone fragments—a common sign of chipmunk activity. In some cases, chipmunks may also transport pine seeds in their cheek pouches and store them in underground burrows.
Do Chipmunks Eat Sunflower Seeds?
Yes—chipmunks readily eat sunflower seeds, and they are one of their preferred food items.
Both black oil sunflower seeds and striped sunflower seeds are highly attractive to chipmunks because they are rich in fats and calories, which helps support their high metabolism and seasonal food storage needs. Chipmunks commonly husks the seeds and often stash them in their cheek pouches to cache in underground burrows.
In residential settings, sunflower seeds placed out for birds are a major attractant. Chipmunks will climb feeders, forage beneath them for fallen seed, and can transport surprisingly large quantities back to their burrows. This behavior is especially pronounced in late summer and fall, when they are building food reserves for winter.
Do Chipmunks Eat Walnuts?
Yes—chipmunks do eat walnuts, though they tend to prefer smaller, thinner-shelled nuts when available.
Chipmunks commonly feed on English (Persian) walnuts and young or weathered black walnuts after the outer husk has broken down. They gnaw through weakened shells or take advantage of cracked, split, or partially decayed walnuts, which are easier to access than intact hard shells.
Walnuts are highly valued because they are rich in fats and calories, making them ideal for late summer and fall caching. Chipmunks frequently carry walnut pieces or small whole nuts in their cheek pouches to store in underground burrows.
What Insects Do Chipmunks Eat?
Insects and other arthropods function as an important supplemental protein source, especially during spring and summer when chipmunks are active, breeding, and raising young:
Beetles (Coleoptera): Chipmunks commonly consume ground beetles, leaf beetles, and scarab beetles in both adult and larval stages. These insects are abundant at ground level, slow-moving, and protein-rich, making them an efficient prey item during active foraging.
Caterpillars (Lepidoptera larvae): Soft-bodied caterpillars are frequently eaten, especially when encountered on low vegetation or fallen foliage. Chipmunks readily consume them due to their high moisture and protein content.
Grasshoppers and Crickets (Orthoptera): Nymphs and smaller adults are taken when they can be easily captured. These insects are particularly valuable in midsummer when chipmunks supplement seed-based diets with animal protein.
Ants (Formicidae): Chipmunks eat worker ants, larvae, and pupae when raiding nests in soil, under stones, or beneath logs. Ants provide consistent, easily accessible protein despite their small size.
Spiders (Araneae): Ground-dwelling spiders and web-builders encountered during foraging are regularly eaten. Spiders are opportunistic prey rather than targeted, but they are nutritionally beneficial.
Centipedes (Chilopoda): Smaller centipedes are sometimes eaten, particularly when uncovered during digging. Chipmunks avoid larger or more aggressive species but will take manageable individuals.
Millipedes (Diplopoda): Juveniles or soft-bodied millipedes may be consumed occasionally, though they are less preferred due to defensive secretions. Consumption tends to be opportunistic rather than routine.
Grubs and Insect Larvae: Soil-dwelling larvae such as beetle grubs, fly larvae, and moth larvae are eaten when found while digging. These are high-value food items because of their fat and protein content.
Slugs and Snails (Gastropods): Although not insects, these arthropod-related invertebrates are sometimes eaten, especially during wet conditions. Chipmunks consume smaller individuals and avoid heavily shelled or large specimens.
Earwigs (Dermaptera): Earwigs are occasionally consumed when encountered under bark, stones, or debris. They are a minor but regular component of chipmunk invertebrate diets in suitable habitats.
Chipmunks are opportunistic predators, favoring prey that is abundant, slow-moving, and easy to capture rather than specializing in any single insect group.
What Fruits Do Chipmunks Eat?
The specific fruit preferences of chipmunks can vary, and their diet will depend on the availability of these fruits in their habitat. Chipmunks are known for their adaptability and will take advantage of wide range of seasonal fruit resources as they become available. Here are some of the fruits that chipmunks commonly eat:
Do Chipmunks Eat Apples?
Yes, chipmunks do eat apples. Apples are a part of the chipmunk's diet, particularly when they are ripe and available. Chipmunks are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders, which means they consume a wide range of foods, including fruits like apples. They will readily eat apples from trees or fallen on the ground, especially when they are in season. Chipmunks use their sharp incisors to gnaw into the fruit and consume the flesh.
If you have apple trees or are growing apples in your garden, it's not uncommon to find chipmunks enjoying this fruit. To protect your apples from chipmunks, you can use measures such as fencing, netting, or traps designed to relocate them away from your fruit trees.
Do Chipmunks Eat Apricots?
Yes—chipmunks do eat apricots, particularly when the fruit is ripe or has fallen to the ground. They feed on the sweet, moisture-rich flesh, making apricots an attractive seasonal food in late spring and early summer. Feeding is typically opportunistic and results in partially eaten fruit or missing apricots beneath trees. While not as consistently attractive as nuts or seeds, apricots can temporarily increase chipmunk activity near fruit trees when available.
Do Chipmunks Eat Blackberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat blackberries, and they readily take advantage of them when available. They consume ripe berries directly from the cane or collect fallen fruit from the ground, targeting the sweet, moisture-rich flesh. Blackberry feeding is most common in mid to late summer and often results in missing berries or partially eaten fruit. While seasonal, blackberries can temporarily increase chipmunk activity and foraging around berry patches.
Do Chipmunks Eat Blueberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat blueberries, and they will readily take advantage of them when available.
Chipmunks eat both wild and cultivated blueberries, consuming ripe berries directly from bushes or picking up fallen fruit from the ground. Blueberries provide natural sugars, moisture, and vitamins, making them an attractive seasonal food, especially in late spring through summer when berries are abundant.
In gardens and residential landscapes, chipmunks often pluck berries whole, carrying them off to eat nearby or store them in burrows. Damage typically appears as cleanly missing berries rather than chewed remains, which distinguishes chipmunk activity from insect feeding. They may also revisit the same bushes repeatedly until the crop is depleted.
Do Chipmunks Eat Cherries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat cherries, and they will readily take advantage of them when accessible. Chipmunks consume both sweet and tart cherries, feeding on ripe fruit directly from low branches or collecting fallen cherries from the ground. The fruit’s high sugar and moisture content makes it an attractive seasonal food in late spring and early summer. Feeding activity typically results in missing fruit or partially eaten cherries, and consistent availability can encourage repeated visits and nearby burrowing if adequate cover is present.
Do Chipmunks Eat Cranberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat cranberries, though they are less preferred than sweeter fruits like strawberries or raspberries. Chipmunks will consume both wild and cultivated cranberries, especially when berries are ripe or fallen to the ground. Cranberries provide moisture and carbohydrates, making them a useful seasonal food in late summer and fall. Because cranberries are more tart and firmer than many other berries, feeding tends to be opportunistic rather than heavy, but active chipmunk presence can still occur where cranberry plants are abundant and nearby cover or burrowing sites are available.
Do Chipmunks Eat Elderberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat elderberries, especially when the berries are ripe or have fallen from the clusters. They feed on the soft, moisture-rich fruit, making elderberries a useful seasonal food in mid to late summer. Feeding is generally opportunistic rather than heavy, but elderberry shrubs can still attract repeated chipmunk visits when fruit is abundant and nearby cover or burrowing sites are present.
Do Chipmunks Eat Grapes?
Yes—chipmunks do eat grapes, and they will readily take advantage of them when accessible. Chipmunks consume both cultivated and wild grapes, feeding on whole grapes, split fruit, or fallen clusters. Grapes are attractive because they are high in natural sugars and moisture, which supports quick energy intake, especially during warm weather.
In vineyards, backyard arbors, and garden settings, chipmunks often gnaw into grapes or carry smaller ones away to feed or cache nearby. Damage commonly appears as missing grapes, partially eaten fruit, or disturbed clusters close to the ground. Activity usually peaks mid to late summer when grapes ripen.
Do Chipmunks Eat Lemons?
Yes—chipmunks can eat lemons, but they do so very rarely and only opportunistically. They may nibble on the flesh if it is exposed or easily accessible, but the high acidity and strong flavor generally make lemons unattractive as a food source. Feeding is minimal and not a significant part of their diet compared with seeds, nuts, and sweeter fruits.
Do Chipmunks Eat Mulberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat mulberries, and they will readily take advantage of them when available. They consume ripe mulberries directly from low branches or gather fallen berries from the ground, favoring the sweet, soft, moisture-rich fruit. Mulberries ripen in late spring to early summer and can create a brief period of intense foraging activity, often evidenced by missing fruit and increased chipmunk presence beneath the tree.
Do Chipmunks Eat Nectarines?
Yes—chipmunks do eat nectarines, particularly when the fruit is ripe or has fallen to the ground. They feed on the soft, sweet, moisture-rich flesh, making nectarines an attractive seasonal food in mid to late summer. Feeding damage typically appears as partially eaten fruit or missing nectarines near the base of the tree. While not a primary food source, nectarines can temporarily increase chipmunk activity and foraging around fruit trees when available.
Do Chipmunks Eat Oranges?
Yes—chipmunks do eat oranges, but they are not a preferred food. Chipmunks will nibble on orange flesh when it is easily accessible, such as fallen fruit or exposed slices, mainly for the moisture and sugars. Because oranges are highly acidic and have thick peels, feeding is usually light and opportunistic rather than sustained. Oranges are far less attractive than berries, seeds, or nuts and rarely support ongoing chipmunk activity on their own.
Do Chipmunks Eat Peaches?
Yes—chipmunks do eat peaches, and they will readily feed on them when available. Chipmunks consume ripe peaches directly from low branches or from fallen fruit on the ground, targeting the sweet, moisture-rich flesh. Feeding activity is most common in mid to late summer and often appears as partially eaten fruit or peaches carried short distances into cover. Because peaches are highly attractive but seasonal, they can temporarily increase chipmunk activity and foraging near fruit trees and landscaped areas.
Do Chipmunks Eat Pears?
Yes—chipmunks do eat pears, particularly when the fruit is ripe or has fallen to the ground. They feed on the sweet, juicy flesh, often leaving partially eaten pears or carrying small fruit to nearby cover. Pears are a seasonal food in late summer to early fall and can temporarily increase chipmunk foraging and activity near trees, especially when combined with accessible shelter or burrowing sites.
Do Chipmunks Eat Plums?
Yes—chipmunks do eat plums, especially when the fruit is ripe or has fallen to the ground. They feed on the sweet, juicy flesh, often leaving partially eaten plums or removing fruit entirely to consume in nearby cover. Plum trees typically attract chipmunks in mid to late summer, and while plums are a seasonal food rather than a staple, their availability can temporarily increase chipmunk foraging and activity around the tree.
Do Chipmunks Eat Raspberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat raspberries, and they readily consume the ripe, soft fruit directly from the cane or from the ground. Raspberries provide sweet sugars and moisture, making them an attractive seasonal food in early to mid-summer. Feeding typically results in missing or partially eaten berries and can temporarily increase chipmunk activity near raspberry bushes or garden patches.
Do Chipmunks Eat Strawberries?
Yes—chipmunks do eat strawberries, feeding on ripe berries directly from the plant or picking up fallen fruit from the ground. Strawberries are sweet and moisture-rich, making them highly attractive as a seasonal food in late spring and early summer. Feeding often results in missing or partially eaten berries and can temporarily increase chipmunk activity in gardens and landscaped areas.
Do Chipmunks Eat Tangerines?
Yes—chipmunks can eat tangerines, but they do so opportunistically rather than as a primary food source. They nibble on the soft, sweet flesh when the fruit is accessible, such as fallen segments or exposed slices, mainly for the sugars and moisture. Because tangerines are acidic and have thick peels, feeding is usually limited and does not sustain prolonged activity, unlike seeds, nuts, or berries.
Do Chipmunks Eat Tomatoes?
Yes, chipmunks may eat tomatoes. Chipmunks are opportunistic feeders and have a diverse diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and plant material. Tomatoes, being a type of fruit, can be appealing to chipmunks. However, their consumption of tomatoes may depend on factors such as availability, other food sources, and individual preferences. If chipmunks have access to tomato plants or ripe tomatoes in a garden or yard, they might nibble on them.
To protect your tomatoes from chipmunks, you can consider using deterrents like fencing or netting, or you can try to create an environment that is less attractive to them by keeping the area free of fallen fruit or other food sources that might attract them.
Do Chipmunks Drink Water?
Chipmunks drink very little free water compared with many other mammals. An average adult chipmunk (about 2–5 ounces in body weight) typically consumes only a few milliliters per day, roughly ¼–½ teaspoon (1–3 mL) under normal conditions.
Most of a chipmunk’s water intake comes indirectly from food, not from drinking. Seeds, nuts, fruits, buds, insects, and green plant material all contain moisture, and in temperate climates this usually supplies enough water for normal metabolic needs. Because of this, chipmunks may go days without visibly drinking, even when water is available.
Environmental conditions make a significant difference. During hot, dry weather, prolonged activity, or periods when food is especially dry (such as stored seeds in late summer or fall), chipmunks may seek out open water sources and drink small amounts more frequently. Even then, intake remains minimal—generally well under one teaspoon per day.
Physiologically, chipmunks are efficient at conserving water. They produce highly concentrated urine and limit evaporative water loss, which allows them to survive with minimal direct water consumption. This adaptation is typical of small rodents that evolved in environments where standing water is not consistently available.