Guide

Happening unseenMammals

Where chipmunks spend the winter

December to February

Eastern chipmunks spend winter in underground burrows, dozing in bouts of torpor and waking now and then to eat from the food they stored. A chipmunk above ground in winter is a surprise, and it usually means a mild, sunny spell, or a yard with a bird feeder.

Why this time of year

Chipmunks are not true hibernators, so the burrow under your feet is quietly busy even when the yard looks empty. On a thaw, a few come up to forage.

How to notice it

  1. Find a spot near stumps, woodpiles or brush piles where you saw chipmunks in fall, and look for a hole about 2 inches across with no mound of dirt around it.
  2. Pick a mild, sunny part of the day and watch that spot quietly from a distance for a few minutes.
  3. If snow is on the ground, look for a hole dug through the snow near the burrow.
  4. Do not poke at the hole or add food. Just note what you see and leave the burrow alone.

Try this with kids: Where do you think the chipmunk is sleeping, and what is in its pantry down there?

Word to know: “Torpor” is a restless sleep that can last for days, when body temperature, heart rate and breathing drop to save energy.

Safety

  • Watch from a distance and do not feed or handle wild chipmunks.

Sources

  • esf.eduSUNY ESF Adirondack Ecological Center: inactive from about mid-November until early March to late April; not a true hibernator, little body fat; underground caches fuel arousals from short recurring torpor; during mid-winter thaws some leave burrows, even digging through snow to forage; diurnal. Also: chipmunks at low elevation and near bird feeding stations in yards may come above ground throughout the winter; inactive-phase length set by local snow depth and temperatures.
  • blogs.massaudubon.orgMass Audubon 'Your Great Outdoors' blog, 'Seeing Chipmunks?' (2014-03-10): torpor is a restless sleep that can last for days, lowering body temperature, heart rate and oxygen consumption; chipmunks wake every seven or eight days to eat from their stash; emerge late March - early April.
  • icwdm.orgICWDM: torpor from late fall through winter, no deep hibernation; some active on warm sunny winter days; most emerge from torpor by early March. Burrow entrance usually about 2 inches in diameter with no obvious mounds of soil around it; burrows often well hidden near stumps, wood piles and brush piles; with the onset of cold weather chipmunks enter torpor.

Checked against these sources on October 9, 2026.

In the guide for December, January, February

Also worth noticing