October 7, 2007 - Woodland Alarm Welcome to the Nature Notebook. If you walk through an autumn forest this time of year, you just might be startled by a strange “chock chock” sound repeated every couple of seconds. Although some people might think this call is from a bird or a frog, it is actually the scolding call of an eastern chipmunk. These furry little creatures spend much of their time from late summer through fall gathering and stock-piling seeds and nuts for their winter hibernation. The scolding calls could be a warning triggered by another chipmunk’s intrusion into the caller’s territory. Or perhaps the chipmunk is not happy that you interrupted its busy routine. Get too close to the caller and it is likely to give a series of loud chips and squeaks as it runs along the ground only to disappear down a hole into the safety of its burrow. This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.