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Observations on Torpidity in Captive Chipmunks of the Genus Eutamias Author(S): Tom J

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Observations on Torpidity in Captive Chipmunks of the Genus Eutamias Author(S): Tom J Observations on Torpidity in Captive Chipmunks of the Genus Eutamias Author(s): Tom J. Cade Reviewed work(s): Source: Ecology, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Apr., 1963), pp. 255-261 Published by: Ecological Society of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1932172 . Accessed: 24/12/2011 11:52 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Ecological Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Ecology. http://www.jstor.org Spring 1963 CAPTIVE EUTAMIAS CHIPMUNKS 255 the red-legged frog (Rana aurora aurora). Herpeto- of development in Bufo vallicepts. Physiol. Zobl. 30: logica 16:251-259. 164-176. Straw, R. M. 1958. Experimental notes on the Deep Wright, A. H. 1932. Life histories of the frogs of Springs toad, Bufo exsul. Ecology 39:552-553. Okefinokee Swamp, Georgia. New York: Macmillan. Stuart, L. C. 1951. The distributional implications of Zeuthen, E. 1942. The ventilation of the respiratory temperature tolerance and hemoglobin values in the tract in birds. Danske Vidensselskab. Biol. Med. 17: toads Bufo marines (linnaeus) and Bufo bocourti 1-51. Brocchi. Copeia 1951: 220-221. Zweifel, R. G. 1955. Ecology, distribution, and syste- Thorson, T. B. 1955. The relationship of water econ- matics of frogs of the Rana boylei group. Univ. Calif. omy to terrestrialism in amphibians. Ecology 36: Publ. Zo6l. 54:207-292. 100-116. 1957. Studies on the critical thermal maxima Volpe, E. P. 1953. Embryonic temperature adaptations of salamanders. Ecology 38:64-69. and relationships in toads. Physiol. Zol. 26:344-354. - 1959. Effect of temperature on call of the frog, . 1957. Embryonic temperature tolerance and rate Bombania variegate. Copeia 1959: 322-327. OBSERVATIONS ON TORPIDITY IN CAPTIVE CHIPMUNKS OF THE GENUS EUTAMIAS TOMJ. CADE Department of Zoology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York INTRODUCTION and talus slopes at timber line in the Sierra Nevada Hibernation is well known in a number of sciu- (E. alpinus) ; and some kind of chipmunk lives in rid rodents in the tribe Marmotini, and there have the understory or in the brush fields of all the been many excellent studies dealing with various forested zones lying between these extremes. species of marmots and ground squirrels. Some Other species have ventured into arid pin6n- work has also been done on hibernation in the juniper scrub forests (E. panamintinus; E. qua- eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus (Allen 1938; drivittatus hopiensis), sage brush desert (E. mini- Woodward and Condrin 1945; Engels 1951; mus), and dry chaparral associations (E. mer- Yerger 1955; Lyman and Blinks 1959; Panuska riami). 1959), but surprisingly little attention has been Such a "plastic" group, containing populations given to patterns of activity and torpidity among readily modified to take advantage of subtle en- species of the related genus Eutamias. No physi- vironmental opportunities, may well encompass a ological studies have been reported, and the brief wide spectrum of physiological adaptations re- records by Svihla (1936) and by Broadbooks lated to periods of activity and torpidity. It is (1958) on a few captive specimens of E. amoenus this likelihood of divergence in the physiological seem to be the only laboratory observations. adaptations of closely related species that makes The literature in natural history and ecology the genus Eutamias such an attractive group for also contains few references to torpidity in west- study. ern chipmunks, a fact which has not changed This study presents some exploratory findings appreciably since Howell (1923) first called at- on several aspects of torpidity in 3 species of tention to it nearly 40 years ago. Only twice have Eutamias, with the hope of stimulating others to descriptions been published of naturally hiber- undertake the detailed physiological investigations nating chipmunks (E. townsendii) found torpid so interestingly posed by the ecological distribu- in their nests (Walker 1923; Anthony 1924). tion of this genus. The work was carried out Grinnell and Storer (1924: 81) mention a trap- during the tenure of a postdoctoral fellowship injured individual of E. specious which became from the National Science Foundation in conjunc- torpid and subsequently aroused in captivity, and tion with a program of study at the Museum of Criddle (1943) gives some information on E. Vertebrate .Zoology, University of California, minimum. Broadbooks (1958) has summarized a Berkeley. few other field observations; otherwise little seems to be known. MATERIALS AND METHODS Western chipmunks occupy a diversity of basi- On 18 October 1958, 35 live traps were set in cally chaparral-like habitats in North America. 5 localities on the west side of Lake Almanor, Some live in the brushy understory and log- Plumas County, California, between the Almanor littered floor of humid coastal forests (E. town- postoffice and the southwest corner of the lake. sendii); others in rock-bordered, alpine meadows Seven chipmunks were captured as follows: one 256 TOM J. CADE Ecology, Vol. 44, No. 2 adult male E. quadrinaculatus, one adult male E. sunning, and chasing each other were the main speciosus, one adult male and 4 adult female E. activities. Typically a chipmunk would go to the a-noenus. In addition to these captured indi- food tray soon after emerging from its sleeping viduals, at least 3 other E. speciosus and 20 E. box, fill its cheek pouches with shelled seeds, and amnoenus were seen during the day. Tevis (1953) then retire to the top of one of the sleeping boxes also found E. townsendii around Lake Almanor. to sit and eat at its leisure. Or if it showed a That same day, the chipmunks were transported tendency to hoard seeds, it would eat a few, then down from the mountains to Lafayette, Contra enter one of the boxes, store the rest, and con- Costa County, California, where they were placed tinue to make trips with filled cheek pouches from together in an outdoor cage with a floor space of the food tray to the sleeping box for a good part 36 square feet and a volume of 72 cubic feet. The of the day. Idle chipmunks usually perched atop cage was provided with 6 sleeping boxes made of the sleeping boxes, where they often sat in the one-inch thick, unfinished redwood boards with typical upright posture on their haunches or inside dimensions of 6" by 12" by 5" high. Each stretched out in various relaxed postures to doze had a 2-inch square entrance near the top of one in the sun. At other times, particularly when end and a removable lid for convenience in ex- several chipmunks were trying to collect seeds at amining the occupants. Cotton was provided at the same time, they chased each other vigorously intervals for nesting material. The cage was all about the cage and in and out of the sleeping always provided with water and food, which con- boxes. sisted of sunflower seed, cracked corn, milo maize, The animals were strictly diurnal, never emerg- barley, and occasionally pieces of apple and lumps ing from the sleeping boxes until the sun was well of peanut butter mixed with oatmeal. up and always retiring for the night before sun- Permanently fastened around the neck of each down. They were reluctant to move about in the chipmunk was a collar made of differently colored dark inside their sleeping boxes and seldom at- porcelain beads strung on copper wire. General tempted to escape from a box at night even when observations on activity and behavior were made disturbed. at a distance of 15 feet from inside quarters by All of the chipmunks showed a strong prefer- looking through a glass door leading onto the ence for sunflower seeds. Apple was readily sundeck where the cage was located. Body tem- eaten, and so was the peanut butter-oatmeal mix- peratures and weights, unless otherwise indicated, ture, but sunflower seeds were the only food were all taken at least 2 hours after dark, usually stored in the sleeping boxes. The stored seeds between 2200 and 2300 hours. The animals were were always shelled and placed in the bottom of weighed on a triple beam balance accurate to one the cotton lining of the nest. tenth of a gram, and all temperatures were esti- mated to a tenth of a degree C, using a Schultheis BODY TEMPERATURE AND TORPIDITY rapid registering thermometer inserted to a depth A number of rectal temperatures taken under of 15 mm rectally, orally, or into a cheek pouch. various external and internal conditions are sum- After cautiously removing the lid of a sleeping marized in Figure 1. The body temperatures of box, it was often possible to get resting or sleep- these nontorpid chipmunks were conspicuously ing rectal temperatures by gently lifting up a labile, ranging from a low of 310C during sleep chipmunk's tail and inserting the thermometer. to a high of 40.6? C following vigorous activity. The chipmunks showed remarkably little resist- After moderate to heavy activity, the body tem- ance to this procedure so long as they were left perattures were typically above 380C; during inside their sleeping boxes. To obtain active periods of rest, rectal temperatures were usually body temperatures, the chipmunks were allowed in the range of 36 to 370C, but during sleep, tem- to run freely in a small room for several minutes.
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