Squirrels of the World

Tamias amo enus 317

sprinkled with rufous. The two inner light stripes are
grizzled gray, and the outer pair of light stripes are white.
The head is mixed gray, rufous, and black; the ear patch
is dark.
T. a. affi nis—Canada, in the “transition and Canadian zones
of southern British Columbia” (Anthony). This form is
indistinguishable in appearance from T. a. amoenus.
T. a. albiventris—type locality is on the boundary between
Asotin and Garfi eld counties, Washington (USA). The
upperparts are grayish, and the underparts are whitish
or cream. The inner pair of light stripes are smoke gray
and the outer pair of light stripes are whitish.
T. a. canicaudus—USA, in the “transition zone of eastern
Washington” (Anthony). The tail is edged with gray. The
general color on the dorsum is vinaceous gray, and the
dorsal stripes are broad.
T. a. caurinus—Olympic Mountains, Washington (USA), up
to the timberline. This form is similar to T. a. amoenus,
but darker. The ear patch is reduced in size, and the dark
stripes are black.
T. a. celeris—Pine Forest Mountains, Humboldt County, Ne-
vada (USA). This is a smaller and paler form, similar to T.
a. monoensis.
T. a. cratericus—Butte County, Idaho (USA). This is a dull
gray form. The light stripes are all smoke gray, with the
outer pair lighter.
T. a. felix—Mount Baker Range, British Columbia (Canada).
There is a heavy suff usion of ochraceous on the sides,
the cheeks, and the underside of the tail. The stripes are
broad. The upperparts have a rusty brown tone.
T. a. ludibundus—Canada, “along the boundary line region
between Alberta and British Columbia” (Hollister). This

is the largest of the subspecies. The sides are dark and

tawny. The underparts are yellowish.

T. a. luteiventris—“transition and Canadian zones from

southern Alberta [Canada] south into Montana and Wyo-

ming [USA]” (Anthony). This form is similar to T. a.

amoenus, with a strong suff usion of ochraceous buff on

the underparts.

T. a. monoensis—USA, “on the arid crest and east wall of the

central Sierra Nevada (California), where it is character-

istic of the Canadian zone” (Grinnell and Storer). This

form is paler and grayer, with whiter light stripes.

T. a. ochraceus—USA, “only in the Siskiyou Mountain region

of northern California and southern Oregon” (Howell).

This form is larger than T. a. amoenus, and the head and

the dorsum are more ochraceous. The dark dorsal stripes

are less black.

T. a. septentrionalis—Canada, on the “north shore of Ootsa

Lake, British Columbia” (Cowan). This is a large form.

The inner pair of light stripes are reddish brown anteri-

orly, becoming paler posteriorly. The outer pair of light

stripes are white with a faint reddish brown wash.

T. a. vallicola—USA, “confi ned to the Bitterroot Valley (Mon-

tana) and the adjacent foothills, but the exact limits of its

range are not known” (Howell). This form is similar to T.

a. amoenus, but the overall color is paler.

conservation: IUCN status—least concern. Population

trend—stable.

habitat: The yellow-pine chipmunk primarily inhabits drier

forests of the transition zone, but it may occur in the lower

Canadian zone. In the far southern parts of its range, it is

Tamias amoenus. Photo courtesy A. Coke Smith, http://www.cokesmithphototravel.com.