GRAY-FOOTED CHIPMUNK
Tamias canipes (V. Bailey 1902)

Order Rodentia : Family Sciuridae

DESCRIPTION. A small, grayish squirrel, the upperparts marked with four whitish and three to five brownish stripes; the nape and shoulders usually with a distinct wash of smoke gray; dark dorsal stripes black or brownish black; inner pair of light stripes smoke gray, outer pair grayish white. Dental formula: I 1/1, C 0/0, Pm 2/1, M 3/3 × 2 = 22. External measurements average: total length, 225 mm; tail, 102 mm; hind foot, 35 mm.

DISTRIBUTION. These are forest-dwelling chipmunks that occur in Texas only in the higher elevations (1,800–2,500 m [5,905–8,202 ft.]) of the Sierra Diablo and Guadalupe Mountains in the Trans-Pecos region (Culberson County).

SUBSPECIES. Tamias c. canipes.

HABITS. The gray-footed chipmunk can be found in dense stands of conifers and mixed timber (oaks, pines, and firs), among fallen trees along the edges of clearings, and on brushy hillsides, particularly where crevices in rocks offer retreats and nesting opportunities. When alarmed, they usually seek safety in crevices, underground burrows, or trees.

Their food consists of a variety of items such as acorns, seeds of Douglas fir, currants, gooseberries, mushrooms, green vegetation, and insects.

Little is known of their breeding habits. The young are about half grown in midsummer and almost full grown in September and October, but one female taken in August in the Guadalupe Mountains contained four embryos. One litter a year is normal.
In addition to the two populations in Culberson County, Texas, they have been recorded from three nearby areas in New Mexico. In 1979, Hugh Genoways (University of Nebraska) and associates obtained nine specimens near the Bowl and in Upper Dog Canyon at the higher elevations of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

POPULATION STATUS. Rare. Given the restricted distribution to the Guadalupe Mountains and habitat requirements, the gray-footed chipmunk is extremely rare in the state.

CONSERVATION STATUS. The IUCN recognizes the gray-footed chipmunk as a species of least concern, and it does not appear on the federal or state lists of concerned species. The status of this species appears to be stable within the protected confines of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Clearly, however, in Texas it could be vulnerable to local catastrophic events such as a massive fire within the national park.

 

From The Mammals of Texas, Seventh Edition by David J. Schmidly and Robert D. Bradley, copyright © 1994, 2004, 2016.  Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.