Lincoln National Forest alone accounts for 163 of New Mexico’s gray-footed chipmunk records, by far the largest cluster in the state, tracking the Sacramento and Capitan mountain forests this chipmunk depends on and rarely leaves.
The record is heavily specimen-driven: 15,532 of the state’s 15,544 total records come from GBIF rather than iNaturalist photos, pointing to systematic small-mammal survey work rather than casual sightings. NatureServe ranks the species S3, Vulnerable, in New Mexico, notable since this chipmunk’s US range barely extends beyond the state’s southern mountains into far western Texas.
There’s no single sharp seasonal peak; records run through the year, shifting with elevation and local weather rather than clustering in one obvious month.
