California ground squirrel

Description:

Adults have a molted brown and grey appearance, which helps them blend into their environment. Often they have an almost silvery speckled upper back, neck, and shoulders. I was able to find them in 3 different habitats at the refuge. Woodlands (pics 1-3), Grasslands (pic 4), and rock outcrop (pic 5-6).

Habitat:

Spotted at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge has several types of habitats including grasslands, riparian woodlands, wetlands, and vernal pools which are seasonally-flooded depressions in impermeable soils that hold rainwater until evaporation occurs. The pools are home to specialized plants and animals adapted to the alternating wet/dry regime. The California ground squirrel is found in plains, small meadows, tree-covered hillsides, rocky outcrops, and granite taluses. They live in burrows, which they excavate themselves.

Notes:

Like many squirrels, they collect and store more food than they can eat. They eat a large variety of foods including but not limited to eggs, insects, roots, tubers, seeds, grains, nuts, fruit, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and caterpillars.