**Description:** Small rodents with five distinct dark stripes and white stripes running down a reddish-brown back. They feature expandable cheek pouches used for transporting food.
**Size & Weight:** 8–10 inches long. Weigh 2–5 oz.
**Sexual Dimorphism:** Males and females look identical.
**Life Cycle:** They do not enter a true hibernation; instead, they enter a state of torpor, waking periodically during winter to eat from stored food piles.
**Habitat:** Residents of the forest floor, living in complex underground burrow systems.
**Identification:** Recognized by their "chip-chip" alarm call, which is frequently mistaken for a bird.