Juvenal (juveniles and young) pelage in chipmunks is characterized by silkiness and sparseness, especially on the venter. The coloration of this juvenal pelage resembles that of adults in winter pelage which is duller than adult summer pelage. Adult pelage (subadults, adults, and old adults) is not so silky as juvenal pelage, but there are more hairs, especially on the venter. The color pattern is the same in both juvenal and adult pelages.
Chipmunks are born naked and blind and in about two weeks the "body is covered with silken hair clearly demonstrating the color pattern so characteristic of chipmunks...." (Shaw 1944:282). This "silken hair" is replaced by adult summer pelage, and juvenal chipmunks which are molting into adult summer pelage closely resemble the adult males, and later on in the summer, the adult females. Adult females molt later, as a rule, than adult males probably because of lactation. Summer molt begins, on chipmunks in Wyoming and South Dakota, in the latter part of June and is completed by the latter part of August or the first part of September.
Summer molt begins, topographically, in the region of the head and progresses posteriorly to the base of the tail, for, the tail does not molt into summer pelage. The winter molt starts at the same time at the tip of the tail and at the base of the tail, and from each place proceeds anteriorly. The sequence described above is the rule; exceptionally, there are some specimens which molted in patches. In most skins, molts are easily detected because distinct molt-lines were formed. The above description of molting is based on study of a large series of specimens of Eutamias minimus silvaticus taken in several seasons of the year.
The summer pelage is bright, more especially on the sides. In late summer the pelage on the tail is markedly worn, and the hairs around its outer margin are broken. In texture, the summer pelage is not so soft as winter pelage, and this is probably owing to the presence of large amounts of "kinky" underfur in the winter pelage.
The winter pelage is soft, dull in color, and gives the specimen a grayish or an umbrous appearance. The guard hairs are longer than in the summer pelage.
[ Key to the Species of the Chipmunks of Wyoming ]
- 1. Dorsal stripes faint; general tone of upper parts grayish. Eutamias dorsalis, p. 603
- 1'. Dorsal stripes distinct; general tone of upper parts tawny (not grayish).
- 2. Venter yellowish or buff; tip of baculum more than 30 per cent of length of shaft; shaft of baculum not widened at base. Eutamias amoenus, p. 602
- 2'. Venter white; tip of baculum less than 29 per cent of length of shaft—if more than 29 per cent, shaft widened at base.
- 3. Size small to medium; greatest length of skull less than 34 mm.; shaft of baculum not widened at base; outermost dorsal dark stripe never obsolete Eutamias minimus, p. 590
- 3'. Size large; greatest length of skull rarely less than 34 mm.; shaft of baculum widened at base; outermost dorsal dark stripe often obsolete, never strongly evident. Eutamias umbrinus, p. 606
[ Accounts of Species and Subspecies ]
[ Eutamias minimus (Bachman) ]
Diagnosis.—Size small; tip of baculum of adults less than 28 per cent of length of shaft; outermost dorsal dark stripes distinct; skull small to medium; when skull medium, zygomatic breadth not proportionally narrower.