Ardilla De Siberia - Eutamias sibiricus - Siberian chipmunk - Esquilo - Da - Sibéria

What we see here is a chipmunk... ...known as a Siberian or Common Chipmunk. The scientific name is Eutamias Sibiricus or Tamias Sibiricus (they are synonyms). And as its name indicates it is a chipmunk that in principle should be in Asia, in the northern part of Asia... From the center of Russia towards China, passing through Korea and other areas... ...including Northern Japan. Nevertheless, this example we see here and another that we will see, we recorded them in a forest in Belgium. That is to say, in central-western Europe. This means that this is an invading species in this case. In fact it is categorized as an invading species for this area. The fact that a species is invasive doesn't have to be taken in a negative light, in the sense of the species being good or bad. It simply means that it is a species... that for one reason or another... ...normally man's fault, is invading an area that doesn't belong to it... ...and for that reason alters the ecosystem in a way that wouldn't happen naturally... ...if this species had developed without interference from humans... ...or from another natural issue, but, let's say, unbalanced with what would be the normal course of things. With the passing of the decades the species take up certain ecosystems, certain lands of certain climates... ...to the forests, the oceans, the deserts for example. But the chance, and above all the intervention of man as we just said... ...causes certain species to be transported to determined latitudes to others, by either error or intentionally. In this case, the chipmunk we are seeing was introduced to Belgium originally as a pet. And, after being freed or having escaped, they reproduced in nature. This can have certain impacts, that can have negative impacts on the local species or alien species. And there are many of these type of [ecological] impacts in different countries of the world. The invasive species by definition are cats and dogs that we can say transcend this type of invaders. In the sense that by being domesticated animals, they are associated with habitats in which humans live. But, as we all known, above all cats are animals that don't just consider their territory to be the home of their owner... ...but they also make incursions in nearby natural territories, like for example the forest that this chipmunk is seen in. Cats are one of the predators that this chipmunk faces, together with some rapacious birds and mustelids. Animals like this, that escaped and grew naturally when they originally lived in captivity as pets... ...start to develop...start to reproduce in an excessive way, and don't have predators in the area that can contain their advance. This makes them modify the environment, as we just mentioned. All of this makes it beautiful to see these chipmunks develop some of their normal activities. Like eating and washing themselves.