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The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), also known as the striped gopher, leopard ground squirrel, and squinny (formerly known as the leopard-spermophile in the age of Audubon), is a species of hibernating ground squirrel that is widely distributed over grasslands and prairies of North America.
Two squirrels in the entrance of a drey. Male and female squirrels may share the same nest for short times during a breeding season, and during cold winter spells squirrels may share a drey to stay warm. However, females nest alone when pregnant. In North America, squirrels produce broods of about three "pups" twice a year.
The dreys are roughly spherical, about 30 to 60 cm in diameter and are usually insulated with moss, thistledown, dried grass, and feathers to reduce heat loss. [25] Males and females may share the same nest for short times during the breeding season, and during cold winter spells. Squirrels may share a drey to stay warm.
Ground squirrels are rodents of the squirrel family that generally live on the ground or in burrows, rather than in trees like the tree squirrels.The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known as marmots (genus Marmota) or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less bushy-tailed ground squirrels tend to be known as chipmunks (genus ...
What does the behavior of squirrels say about winter weather? Squirrel at Central Park on October 12, 2023. According to folklore, the bushier the squirrel's tail, the colder the winter. Winlock ...
The tail is thicker than the other ground squirrels with fringes. The males are slightly larger than the females with a length of 234–267 millimetres (9.2–10.5 in) and 230–256 millimetres (9.1–10.1 in), respectively. The summer and winter pelages are distinctive with the winter pelage being much darker.
The greatest predator of the ground squirrel is a snake—the type of snake varying by the locality. As a result, ground squirrels have evolved to perform anti-snake displays to defend themselves. [6] These squirrels tend to be put on a prominent display, specifically by moving their tail back-and-forth horizontally.
Richardson's ground squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii), also known as the dakrat or flickertail, is a North American ground squirrel in the genus Urocitellus.Like a number of other ground squirrels, they are sometimes called prairie dogs or gophers, though the latter name belongs more strictly to the pocket gophers of family Geomyidae, and the former to members of the genus Cynomys.