Chipmunks hibernate in winter, but they don't sleep all the way through the season. They retreat to their burrows and wake every few days to raise their body temperatures to normal, feed on stored food rather than fat reserves, and urinate and defecate.

Do chipmunks come out during the winter?

During the winter, chipmunks hibernate but not for the whole winter. Ever few days they will wake up to eat, use the bathroom and raise their body temperatures. When they are hibernating, they are very hard to wake up and their body temperature drops from 94 degrees to however cold their burrow is.

What challenges do chipmunks face in winter?

When temperatures drop, they will lower their body temperature, slow their heart rate and go back into their form of hibernation. During this time, a chipmunk's heart rate can drop to around 4 beats a minute and its body temperature can drop as low as 40 degrees!