MEET Haggis – the world’s greediest chipmunk.
The five-month-old rodent, who lives in Kirkwall, Orkney, has an astonishing ability – and determination – to cram food, tissue paper and even curtains into his mouth.
His owner, Alison Ritchie, has posted hilarious videos on YouTube showing the irresistibly cute creature in action.
Haggis has paper-folding skills that would put an origami expert to shame.
He grabs a mass of tissue paper and precisely folds it before cramming it into his mouth and scampering off to his cage. Haggis manically repeats the process, getting through half a loo roll in minutes.
Alison, 41, revealed that Haggis’s hoarding habit once resulted in him trying to cram a whole curtain into his mouth.
She also finds bits of food the chipmunk has hidden in her clothes.
Alison, who works as an office manager, said: “Not having had chipmunks before, I quickly fell in love with his cheeky antics and things he does.
“Things like his attempts to “stash” seeds for winter, as chipmunks do – his problem is that he stashes everywhere and sometimes isn’t very good at hiding them.
“He even tries to bury seeds in the clothes you’re wearing.”
Another video shows Haggis trying to stuff a net curtain into his mouth.
He can be seen grabbing at the swathes of curtain as it envelopes him, and trying to fold it into his mouth so he can take it away.
However, he realises his attempts are in vain when he tries to walk off and the curtain remains firmly in place.
Chipmunks are native to North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found in Asia.
Their diet consists primarily of seeds, nuts and other fruits. At the beginning of Autumn, many species of chipmunk begin to stockpile nonperishable foods for winter.
They have cheek pouches which enable them to rapidly collect and transport food. These pouches can even expand to match the size of their body when completely full.
