Chipmunks

Summery
Anthropomorphic Chipmunks (Retard Sapian), commonly called Modern Chipmunks, are a sentient species of rodents that evolved from the feral Chipmunk (Tamias Striatus) They belong to the Scuridae Family that also includes anthropomorphic and feral squirrels. They are the primary founders and inhabitants of the Chipmunk Kingdom and chipmunk culture known as the Divine Destiny Within chipmunk kind are 25 races distinguished by subtle differences in visual appearance

Appearance
Modern Chipmunks are anthropomorphic in appearance meaning they walk upright, grab and manipulate objects with prehensile hands and like the their feral ancestors they feature stripes on their faces and backs as well as cheek pouches. Chipmunks generally are of small to medium build. Their athletic bodies stand 4-1/2 feet to 5 feet in height. Genders are dimorphic with males being of larger stronger appearance while females being smaller and slimmer. Though there are subtle difference from race to race, chipmunks commonly feature rich mahogany brown body fur adorned with distinctive stripes running the length of their backs. Custered cream colored fur cover, their face, throat, chest, belly, inner thighs, and loins, along with the souls of their foot paws and toes. Tails are normally a darker shade of the body fur. Eye color varies. But usually occur in browns, greens, greys and blues. Some modern chipmunks especially those of the Striatian race have a genetic mutation that causes them to grow long hair on their heads much like that of a human. Also a common genetic mutation found in the Siberican race will result in snow white fur with pale beige colored stripes instead of the normal mahogany colors and black stripes. Lewisa was known for her uniquely pink fur and fiery red tal and hair due to a side effect of using talismans and the Synergy Crystal to extend her life span.

Behavior
Other than becoming social creatures, modern chipmunk behavior is pretty much the same as there feral ancestors. They instinctively collect massive larders during the warm seasons to live off of them during winter and hard times. This behavior is the prime factor as to why the Chipmunk Kingdom is currently the wealthiest nation on earth. Chipmunks applied the larder behavior to the nation’s economy and financial system saving surplus in huge financial reserves to be tapped during hard times.

Chipmunks in general have a very inquisitive personality and a witty sense of humor. They are sticklers for cleanliness, efficiency, and orderliness. They also are obsessed with backing themselves up with redundancies and tend to overbuild which explains why the Chipmunk Kingdom is renown for its infrastructure and has proven to be a nation that in which sieges and economic embargoes leveled against the Kingdom by hostile powers have time and time again proven nearly ineffective.

Due to being a prey specie in the past, earning a chipmunk’s trust is a very difficult feat. But to those who do, chipmunks reveal themselves as lovingly warm and affectionate life long friends.

Diet
Modern Chipmunks enjoy a diverse omnivorous diet that includes nuts and seeds, some fruits and vegetables, insects, and even worms, birds eggs, and upon rare occasions small game animals such as feral mice and birds. A delicacy among chipmunks is a salad like dish consisting of lettuce garnished with chestnuts, Hazel nuts grasshoppers and robin eggs. Also other prized delicacies among chipmunks are unsalted peanuts, and dried bananas.

Surprising Strength
Modern Chipmunks despite their small light frames are 7-10 times stronger than a human being. This does not mean they can lift a car or bend steel rods as this strength and power, summoned in quick explosive bursts, is designed to increase a chipmunk speed and agility to astonishing levels when couple with lightning quick reflexes.

Health
Chipmunks are renown for robust health and vigor overall and generally live good quality lives. This is thanks in part to their wholesome omnivorous diet, a great emphasis on personal hygiene and cultural mandates to keep mind body and spirit in top form. The Chipmunk Kingdom providing what is considered the best and most advanced health care system in the world aids in the longevity of Chipmunks clocking in in an average lifespan of 80-95 years. A few chipmunks like Lewisa have lived for hundreds of years with the aid of the Synergy Crystal and other life enhancing magical spells and powers. The longest lived Chipmunk is Kachina keeping himself alive by drawing upon the powers of Tawa through a shard he chipped from the Synergy Crystal itself just before the Divine Destiny was ousted from power by the Inner Circle take over.

However there are some health issues with chipmunks. Like many rodents they have speed and agility on their side but at the cost of stamina and far less of an ability than other species to cope with prolonged exposure to intense pain, high amounts of stress, and fatigue. Prolonged exposure to these factors can have negative effects on mental and physical health and can even result in death. These issues are due to the high strung metabolism that provides Chipmunks their nimbleness. Scientists theorize that these issues are also attributed to the fact that Modern chipmunks evolved from a prey species which tends go into shock and die quickly as an evolutionary means to minimize pain and suffering of the prey when caught, killed, and consumed by a predator.

A Dangerous Pitch
One venerability chipmunks have is an utter intolerance to a sound frequency of 15.6 Khz. Prolonged exposure can cause adverse effects on physical and esp. mental health. This vulnerability was exploited by the Inner Circle by adding to all Megalith organs pipes that emitted this precise frequency to trick chipmunks into funneling the power of the synergy crystal to the Grand Bishop. This dangerous pitch is the same sound frequency emitted by cathode ray tubes which is why the Chipmunk Kingdom used a form of video display similar to the electromechanical television invented by Paul Gottieb Nipkow until the advent of LCD and Plasma Displays.

Reproduction
From late March to mid April is the Chipmunk Mating season. Males will compete with each other in Het Vetchen matches for large amounts of territory either in the form of actual plots of land in rural areas and virtual territories drawn up on Plot Boards in urban areas. The objective is to amass and hold onto vast territories as a given dominate male has exclusive mating rights to females whose home dens fall within that male’s territory.

Courtship is initiated by females by provoking the male to chase her. It is believe this is an instinctive technique, common in scuridids, used by the female to test a male’s endurance thus making sure he is fit to father her offspring. When caught the couple will either head to the male’s den or that of the female where copulation will take place. A male will leave behind a mating plug in the female's reproductive tract at the end of the mating process to inhibit the sperm of other males from furtilizing the female's egg.

Like humans and most other anthropomorphic species, gestation lasts roughly nine months. Offspring is weaned from the mother’s milk at age two and become sexually mature at around 16 year to 18 years of age. However Chipmunk Kingdom Laws prohibit sexual activity until 18 years of age. Though those same laws mandate that all public and private schools administer comprehensive sex education to youth beginning at age 12.

At age 18 young chipmunks then move out of their mother’s den and establish den sites of their own. Males will choose sights with females nearby and challange advisories for their females while females move to locations close to dominate and established males to insure they have viable offspring by those males and can raise them under the protection of those males.