Least chipmunk(Tamias minimus)
Chipmunks are an attractive and species-rich group, especially in mountainous regions in the western US and Canada; other species occur in eastern North America and in Eurasia. All are active, alert, and fast-moving. Four species occur on the east slope of the central Sierra Nevada in California: the high-altitude alpine chipmunk found above treeline, the lodgepole chipmunk, the yellow-pine chipmunk, and the least chipmunk, shown here. Least chipmunks (Tamias minimus) are the smallest and most widely distributed chipmunk in North America; they can be recognized by pale coloration, a thin tail (often held vertical, as at upper right), and tan sides set off from the white dorsal stripes by a dark line. Some of these chipmunks were photographed in alpine fields far above treeline, near the Barcroft Laboratory in the White Mountains of eastern California, at about 3,500 - 3,800 m (roughly 12,000 -12,500 feet). The others -- including the juvenile in the photo immediately below at left -- were shot on Convict Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada -- due west of Barcroft, but about 1300 meters lower.
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
