Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

Description:

There's a parking spot on the road into Estes Park where people stop every day to feed chipmunks. Golden mantled ground squirrels, mistaken for chipmunks, approach boldly to ask for handouts from every rock and crevice and then scamper down the hill. Not so bold are the least chipmunks, grey squirrels, jays, ravens, and other birds that hang around for peanuts that people throw. The fourth picture is of a pile of peanut shells I found under a rock.

Habitat:

Coniferous forest.

Notes:

Pictures taken with an iPhone 5.