USPS releases Squirrels & Chipmunks in Snow booklet at Milcopex

The U.S. Postal Service released its Squirrels & Chipmunks in Snow Forever stamps on 25 September 2026, placing the four-design wildlife booklet into nationwide postal use. Brookfield, Wisconsin, is the official first-day city, and the issue debuted in connection with the Milcopex philatelic exhibition. The self-adhesive booklet contains 20 stamps and is sold at the current Forever-stamp price, with the four designs showing an American red squirrel, an eastern gray squirrel and two eastern chipmunks feeding in winter conditions.

The completed release confirms that the issue has moved from preview to active postage. USPS now lists the booklet as available from 25 September, with postal products that include first-day covers and a set of four digital colour postmarks. The first-day material carries the Brookfield designation and the issue date, giving collectors a direct postal record of the Milcopex launch. Nationwide sales through Post Offices and the USPS online store make the booklet available beyond the exhibition venue.

The four images concentrate on small gestures associated with feeding and winter survival. An American red squirrel raises its front paws to its mouth. An eastern gray squirrel is shown in the middle of eating. One eastern chipmunk faces the viewer with its cheek pouches visibly filled with food, while the other feeds from a turned angle. Snow unifies the photographs and establishes the season without obscuring the animals' markings, posture or behaviour.

USPS art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps using wildlife photographs by four contributors. Fiona M. Donnelly supplied the image of an eastern chipmunk holding its paws to its mouth. Matt Prosser photographed the eastern gray squirrel mid-munch. Martha M. Stewart captured the eastern chipmunk with cheeks full of gathered food, and Ross Taylor photographed the American red squirrel with its paws raised. The named credits give each design a clear photographic provenance and distinguish the issue from illustrated wildlife stamps.

USPS describes the set as its first stamp issue to place these woodland creatures at the centre of the programme. Animals have appeared in many earlier winter scenes, but the new booklet treats squirrels and chipmunks as the principal subject rather than background details. The choice of candid photographs strengthens that focus. Each image records a real instant of movement or feeding instead of arranging the species into a symbolic or decorative composition.

The behaviour shown across the four stamps reflects different approaches to cold weather. Eastern gray squirrels and American red squirrels remain active through winter, moving across branches and snow-covered ground while retrieving or searching for food. The red squirrel develops a thicker coat and more noticeable ear tufts as temperatures fall. Eastern chipmunks store food in underground burrows and spend long periods resting during the coldest weather, waking periodically to feed from their supplies.

These distinctions allow the booklet to function as a compact natural-history group. The chipmunk with swollen cheek pouches illustrates the animal's ability to transport food, while the active squirrels represent the continuing search for winter nourishment. The images invite comparison between species that are often treated casually as similar small rodents. For thematic collectors, the set covers mammals, wildlife, animal behaviour, snow, winter, photography and North American fauna.

The booklet format contains five examples of each of the four designs. Because the stamps are Forever stamps, they remain valid for the prevailing First-Class Mail one-ounce rate even if the rate changes after purchase. This everyday postal function gives the issue strong potential for commercial use on seasonal correspondence, while complete booklets, matched blocks and first-day pieces provide distinct collecting formats. Used examples may be collected by design, date, cancellati