Augustine, Theresa, Freddie and Buffy

They can carry 4 nuts in each cheek pouch and one in the mouth, (and can even squeak with their mouth full!)

Chipmunks usually live in burrows under the ground which can run for over 10 meters, and have several entrances and chambers. One chamber contains the nest of leaves and grass.

Chipmunks are great gatherers and one has been known to collect and store 25kg of nuts in its burrow.

They eat berries, fruit, nuts and small seeds, and will also eat fungi, grass, slugs, snails and other insects, small birds, eggs, mice and small snakes.

Chipmunks have developed in the Squirrel family, (sciuridae) of which at least 250 species have come from the pair that Noah took on the Ark. There are 25 species of chipmunk, prairie dogs and marmots as well as all the squirrels in this family.

They mate from February onwards; pregnancy lasts 31 days, when usually 2-8 babies are born. The live in the nest for a month and can be mature by the autumn to breed the next year.