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Project Noah Nature School
Microtus californicus
This baby squirrel was trying to crawl out of its home for the first time. Every time it seemed like it made it ,it fell right back. It must have attempted at least 15 times and then it disappeared in its home. Picture number 1 shows how fascinated it seems by the outside world. Belding's Squirrel has Longest Hibernation Belding’s Squirrels are small ground squirrels with reddish brown body color, short limbs and small ears. They eat insects, small invertebrates, bird’s eggs, seeds, nuts, grains, roots, bulbs, mushrooms, crops and other green vegetation. They reside in meadows and pastures in California, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. Known for their longest hibernation periods of any North American mammal, usually lasting seven to eight months, male Belding Squirrels emerge from their burrows first and dig through the snow to hunt for food. Females emerge a few weeks later. The female Belding Squirrel mates for only one day in May or June, usually with two or three males. She then lines her burrow with leaves and produces 1-5 babies who spend about a month below ground before creating a burrow of their own. Only 2/3 of young Belding’s Squirrels and 1/3 of adults make it through hibernation. The Belding’s Squirrel makes two types of burrows: a short one for emergency purposes and one with multiple entrances. Male adults sometimes kill young babies if left unattended in burrows. If her babies are killed, the mother Belding’s Squirrel will migrate to another population and kill the litter of a resident female and take over.
Nature reserve
http://www.mary.cc/squirrels/whatisit.ht... http://www.mary.cc/squirrels/foundababy.... http://www.pestproducts.com/beldings-squ...
I was seeking a second opinion on this one.
This was previously ID'd as a Belding's.
Not a vole.
Northern or Botta's gopher?
Filling the pouches with dirt?! Maybe that explains why it made so many trips ,all backward sliding.
If it is unknown it stays up. Unknown or known if anyone posts something it bumps it up like the Owl with the Kingbird or the Swan.
what the images look like it looks like it's filling it's pouches with dirt and dumping it out
jellis,thanks so much. i will leave this as unknown and delete the other. I am wondering though if any one would glance at such an old spot?!
Yes but I was looking at images of the Belding's and they still have eye rings and the ears closer to the top of the head. I would leave it unknown until you really have a better answer. My guess would be Botta's
the Beldings is supposed to be different from the California Ground squirrel. I am more inclined to go with gopher. Northern or Botta's?
Doesn't even look like a ground squirrel. No eye ring, ears are not right and they don't have claws like that.
@ Cynthia,out of the 9 types of ground squirrels that are around,the Belding seems to be the best choice.
http://www.pestproducts.com/ground-squir...
@ Karen, i appreciate your help. Every bit of feedback is welcome to me . I always learn a lot in the process.
It was purely a guess based on the size of the ears & the general appearance! I'm pretty new to the US & still getting to grips with the fauna & flora here!
@ Karen ,Thnx for the link.
From what I understand,Yellow-bellied marmots are found in high rocky areas in many parts of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, from Tulare County in California north to Oregon. In addition, they are found in parts of the White Mountains where they cross the border between California and Nevada. Finally, they also range in parts of the Rocky Mountains (Harris and Johnson 2001). While small populations can be found in the high desert hills of Nevada, they do not live below about 6000 feet in elevation, and do not thrive at the low end of their range of altitude, because they are better suited to higher-elevation living.
They way i read the map is ,San Franscisco is not the normal range. It would be safe to exclude them. Please correct me if i am mistaken,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bell...
according to this link ,the yellow bellied is found in The Western united states,
Does that include San Franscisco/
Thanks for your valuable feedback Cynthia! I wish we could see its tail too!!
@ Karen,the reason i would agree with you is that it has small ears,its claws ,coloration. Besides Marmot is a large ground squirrel.
Before I positively Id it as Marmot do you have any more feedback?
Thnx!
Yes pineapple man,it was a great joy watching this. A group of us were cheering it on. Then it finally gave up . Was probably tired and curled up and slept in its cozy home!
Spotted on Nov 30, 2011
Submitted on Nov 30, 2011
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