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Do Chipmunks Turn Into Squirrels? No — Both Are Squirrels

A chipmunk never becomes a tree squirrel. Both sit in the same family, and the confusion comes from juveniles. How to tell them apart.

By Salma 2 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A chipmunk sitting on a rock among autumn foliage, facial stripes visible
Photo: Tirriko, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
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A chipmunk never becomes a tree squirrel. It is already a squirrel — the everyday word is just narrower than the family it names.

Telling them apart

chipmunkgrey squirrel
Facial stripesyesnever
Back stripesyesno
Size8–11 in, ~3 oz16–20 in, 400–600 g
Tailslim, flat, held behindbushy, arched over the back
Livesground and burrowcanopy, drey or cavity
Winterextended torporactive, no hibernation
Cachingone larder undergroundthousands of scattered nuts

Stripes on the back but not the face

That is a ground squirrel, not a chipmunk — the thirteen-lined ground squirrel and the Barbary ground squirrel both cause this confusion. The face is the diagnostic, not the back.

Which is digging?

signanimal
Neat round hole, ~5 cm, no soil heapchipmunk burrow entrance
Shallow scattered divots in turfsquirrel caching or retrieving
Soil heaped beside the holesomething else — rat, vole, mole

A chipmunk carries spoil away from the entrance and scatters it deliberately, which is why the hole looks unnervingly tidy. That single detail identifies it more reliably than seeing the animal.

They share the garden without much trouble

Chipmunks work the ground, tree squirrels work the canopy, and conflict appears only where food is concentrated — which in a garden means the feeder. Two feeding points, well apart, removes most of the chasing people notice.

Common questions

Do chipmunks grow into squirrels?

No. They are separate species that never transform into one another — a chipmunk is an adult chipmunk and stays one for its whole life. The twist is that a chipmunk already is a squirrel in the taxonomic sense: both sit in the family Sciuridae, alongside ground squirrels, marmots, prairie dogs and flying squirrels. 'Squirrel' in everyday speech means a tree squirrel, which is a narrower thing than the family name.

Why do people think chipmunks are baby squirrels?

Size, mostly. A juvenile grey squirrel in late spring is roughly chipmunk-sized and is seen on the ground, which is where chipmunks live. The two get confused in exactly that window. The distinguishing feature settles it instantly: a chipmunk has dark and light stripes running through the eye and across the cheek, and no squirrel of any age has facial stripes.

What is the quickest way to tell them apart?

Look at the face, then the tail. Chipmunk: facial stripes, a slim flattish tail held out behind, roughly 8–11 inches nose to tail and about 3 ounces. Grey squirrel: no facial stripes, a large bushy tail usually arched over the back, 16–20 inches and 400–600 grams. If the animal has stripes on its back but not its face, it is a ground squirrel rather than a chipmunk.

Do they behave differently?

Substantially. Chipmunks work the ground layer and dig extensive burrows; tree squirrels forage in the canopy and nest in dreys or cavities. Chipmunks larder-hoard one concentrated store underground and enter extended winter torpor, waking periodically to eat from it. Tree squirrels scatter-hoard thousands of individual nuts and stay active all winter without hibernating.

Are they related closely enough to interbreed?

No. Same family, different genera — chipmunks are Tamias and their relatives, tree squirrels are Sciurus — and the divergence is far too great for hybridisation. They coexist in the same woodland and garden without interbreeding, and mostly without much conflict, since they use different layers of the same habitat.

Which one is digging holes in my garden?

Almost certainly the chipmunk. Chipmunk burrow entrances are neat round holes about 5 cm across with no soil heaped around them, because the spoil is carried away and scattered deliberately. Tree squirrels dig shallow scattered pits when caching and retrieving nuts, which look like small divots rather than entrances, and they do not tunnel.

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