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Project Noah Nature School
Urocitellus richardsonii
Ground squirrel patrolling its burrow on the campus grounds. They're capable of sophisticated communication through alarm calls, including ultrasonic calls (ones we can't hear).
Prairie grassland on the outskirts of a university campus
Spotted on Jun 19, 2009
Submitted on May 11, 2011
10 Comments
Nice timing!
I love it...Very funny look on his face.
Excellent pose :-)
This looks like a Richardson's Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii). If so, the males, females, and young have staggered emergence from and into hibernation. It's thought that this process lessens competition between individuals. Very cool, although it would seem like a long time to stay underground and in torpor.
Ground squirrels in this area don't emerge from their burrows until March or April and can start hibernating as early as July. I find this strange, because the weather's warm until October.
Welcome to project noah.
What do they do in the winter? sleep in frozen form?
Cute one..specially those nasty eyes..!!
Aww! I just want to reach out and give him a hug, but i'm sure he'll bite me for intruding on his personal space!
I believe that is the infamous hugging ground squirrel. Not to be confused with its cousin, the shocked ground squirrel.