Squirrels

Ground squirrels, gophers, or diggers are species of ground-dwelling rodents in the genus Citellus. These animals occur through much of western and northern North America and northern Eurasia. They typically have a grizzled, yellowish or grayish fur, often decorated with white spots or stripes. Ground squirrels eat seeds, fruits, foliage, and underground tissues of herbaceous plants, and they have internal cheek pouches to carry food to storage chambers in their underground burrows. Ground squirrels become very fat by the end of the summer, and they spend the winter in hibernation.

Various species of ground squirrels occur in western North America, only some of which are mentioned here. The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Citellus tridecemlineatus) is the widest-ranging species, occurring in short-grass prairie and rangelands over much of the central United States and the southern prairie provinces of Canada. The Townsend ground squirrel (C. townsendi) occurs in dry, upland habitats of the western United States, while Richardson's ground squirrel (C. richard-sonii) occurs in similar habitats farther to the north. The Arctic ground squirrel (C. undulatus) occurs in open boreal forest and low-arctic tundra west of Hudson Bay as far as Alaska. This species is sometimes called the parka ground squirrel, because its fur is sometimes used to line the edges of the hood and sleeves of parkas.

The California rock, or canyon, ground squirrels are a group of five closely related species occurring from Washington to northern Mexico, and as far east as Texas and Colorado. The California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi) occurs in clearings in conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada of California. The rock squirrel (S. variegatus) has a wider range, and occurs in rocky canyons and talus slopes. Some taxonomists place these animals in the genus Otospermophilus.

The golden-mantled ground squirrels, or copperheads, are relatively small animals. Citellus lateralis is a species living in alpine tundra and open conifer forest of the Rocky Mountains and associated ranges from western Canada south to California. Some taxonomists place this group of ground squirrels in their own genus, Callospermophilus.