It’s hard to say if it’s a dependable sign of spring, but it is different. For the last couple of days, we’ve been seeing chipmunks scurry around atop the deep but diminishing snowpack here in the mountains. Otherwise, we haven’t seen a chipmunk around our place since before Thanksgiving. Chipmunks are not true hibernators like groundhogs, but they do prepare for winter. They also “disappear” during weather like we’ve experienced over the past couple of months. A hibernating groundhog’s body temperature falls to 40 degrees F, and its heart rate crawls along at four beats per minute. Curled up in their burrows in this suspended state,...
