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The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), also known as the Beechey ground squirrel, [4] is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California Peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada.
The Pannonian souslik was a medium-sized species of souslik, with an estimated size similar to that of the European souslik. [2] [4] Its skull is estimated to be 42–44 millimetres (1.7–1.7 in) in length, larger than in the European and the speckled souslik, but smaller than large, Asiatic species such as the russet (), yellow and relict ground squirrel (S. relictus).
Shorter burrows are dug as hiding places. This ground squirrel's home range is two to three acres (0.8 to 1.2 ha). Late in life, naturalist John James Audubon made a final expedition to the western plains in search of four-footed mammals. These striped ground squirrels would be tempting prey for many birds, especially hawks and owls.
A UC Davis study found a population of Bay Area ground squirrels hunting and eating voles, suggesting the species may be more flexible in its diet than previously thought.
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 ...
A California ground squirrel in Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County feeds on a vole as an adaptive behavioral response to an increase in the local vole population, a new study found.
A California ground squirrel snacks on a vole in a Bay Area park. The squirrels were observed killing the small rodents last summer (Sonja Wild, UC Davis)
Otospermophilus was formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus Spermophilus, as a subgenus or species group. Since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene has shown Spermophilus to be paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots , [ 2 ] it is now separated, along with six other genera.