Chipmunks花栗鼠

Are you a big fan of the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks？ In the movie， three cute chipmunks can speak. They are excellent singers. They enjoy living with their human friend Dave. How about the real-life chipmunks？

Chipmunks look very much like squirrels， but they spend much of their time on the ground. People name this animal chipmunk because they make the special chip-chip sound. There are as many as 25 kinds of chipmunks， and most live in North America. A wild chipmunk can live for 2 to 5 years.

Chipmunks are very small， and they enjoy living by themselves. When they are two months old， they leave their mothers to live alone. They build their own homes and start collecting food all by themselves. They do not like living or making friends with other chipmunks much.

你是电影《鼠来宝》的忠实粉丝吗？在电影中，三只可爱的花栗鼠会说话。它们是优秀的歌手。它们喜欢和它们的人类朋友戴夫一起生活。那现实生活中的花栗鼠是怎样的呢？

花栗鼠看起来很像松鼠，但它们大部分时间都生活在地面。人们把这种动物叫作花栗鼠是因为它们发出特殊的嚓嚓声。花栗鼠多达25种，大多数生活在北美洲。一只野生花栗鼠可以活2—5年。

花栗鼠体型非常小，它们喜欢独自生活。当它们两个月大的时候，它们就会离开母亲独自生活。它们建立自己的家园，并开始自己收集食物。它们不太喜欢和其他花栗鼠一起生活或交朋友。

Not like other hibernating animals， chipmunks do not live on body fats during winters. They collect and keep food during summers and eat it during winters. They don’t sleep all the way through the winter. They are light sleepers and wake up every few days to eat food.

Chipmunks may not be as popular as pet dogs or pet cats， but they can be good ones. They can feed on many things from vegetables and fruits to nuts and bird eggs. They sleep at night， so you don’t have to look after them during night time. But you have to remember one thing—chipmunks have trust problems， so it takes time for them to become close to you.

不像冬眠的动物，花栗鼠在冬天不靠身体脂肪过冬。它们在夏天收集和储存食物，在冬天吃。它们不会整个冬天都在睡觉。它们的睡眠很浅，每隔几天就会醒来吃东西。

花栗鼠可能不像宠物狗或宠物猫那样受欢迎，但它们可能是很好的宠物。它们可以吃很多东西，从蔬菜和水果到坚果和鸟蛋。它们晚上睡觉，你不必在晚上照顾它们。但你必须记住一件事——花栗鼠有信任问题，所以它们需要一段时间才会与你亲近。

Word Bank

alone /ə'ləʊn/ adv. 独自

live on 以……为主食

light /laɪt/ adj. 睡得不沉的；易醒的

popular /'pɒpjələ（r）/ adj. 受欢迎的

nut /nʌt/ n. 坚果

trust /trʌst/ n. 信任；相信