Novel food item preference in habituated Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus.

Abstract

This experiment looked at habituated Eastern Chipmunks, Tamias Striatus, a ground based forager that eat a wide range of food items. At a biological station in northern Michigan chipmunks were given the choice to add a viable novel food item or a distasteful novel food item to their diet with the prediction that distasteful food items would be avoided while other items were taken. Unexpectedly all items were taken, suggesting little food preference in habituated chipmunks. These results have possible implications for chipmunk control.