When winter settles in and the acorns begin to fall, chipmunks everywhere are hard at work stockpiling their winter food supply. This article will look at the diets of chipmunks and will answer the question, ‘do chipmunks eat acorns?’
Acorns represent a critical food source for many small woodland mammals such as chipmunks, squirrels, and mice. Chipmunks usually store them in large quantities and can bury several thousand nuts below ground or under loose soil or leaves, depending on where they live.
Do chipmunks eat acorns?
Chipmunks eat acorns and hoard them for the winter. They can collect huge numbers of nuts. A single chipmunk can gather a staggering 165 acorns a day. Acorns are a great source of nutrients for chipmunks in the fall and winter months. They contain high levels of fat, which gives these rodents the calories and energy they need to stay healthy during winter.
Chipmunks also have special teeth adapted just for crushing the shells of nuts like these acorns so they can get at the tasty nutmeat inside! Not all acorns are edible for all animals. Red oak acorns are generally avoided by squirrels, but chipmunks have evolved to be able to eat these acorns.
What do chipmunks eat?
The diet of common Eastern chipmunks consists mainly of seeds, nuts, fruits, green vegetation, and fungi. Other food items are young snakes, insects, bird eggs, and dead animals. These rodents are very opportunistic in their diet and will also eat any available food sources given a chance.
Chipmunks use their teeth constantly for gnawing on hard substances like wood, nuts, and tree bark. Their teeth can grow up to 2 to 3 inches. Their front incisors are always growing, which means that they have to gnaw on something constantly to keep them at a normal length.
Chipmunks can eat seasonal fruits like blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and grapes. When these foods become scarce during wintertime, chipmunks switch over to nuts and seeds for sustenance.
They store their food in burrows, mostly under roots, for protection against other animals trying to eat the same nuts and seeds as they do.
Can I feed acorns to chipmunks?
If you feed chipmunks, then make sure there are always plenty of nuts available, including acorns since these should be their main diet source. Also include many types of fruits, vegetables, and grains to provide a balanced diet.
You should avoid feeding chipmunks with human food items like candy or cakes since these are high in sugar, which can harm their health.
Conclusion
Chipmunks do eat acorns; they are one of their primary sources of food during the fall and winter months. If you have an oak tree in your garden, you’ll probably see chipmunks and squirrels gathering them for the winter. Chipmunks can be fun to watch as they are cute and entertaining. Acorns are high in calories and help provide vital nutrients to chipmunks in the winter when food may be scarce. This gives them energy, helps fatten them up and keep them warm, so that they can survive even the harshest winters.