I was at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden today and found this little one eating wild plums. Chipmunks are not true hibernators, instead they go into a state of torpor from which they periodically awake. When there is a mild winter day as today (at +1 celsius), sometimes chipmunks will emerge from their underground homes, and seek fresh air and fresh food. This chipmunk ate some of the small wild plums, then stuffed as many as he could into his cheek pouch, and scuttled off with his bounty. I followed him as best I could and discovered that his den was a long, long way from the plum tree. He made use of snow tunnels at times, to avoid having to run along the top of the snow, but I finally lost sight of him. Because the temperature is plunging down to -15 celsius tonight, this little guy will not be coming back out for awhile.