Belding's ground squirrel

Description

Belding's ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi), also called pot gut, sage rat or picket-pin, is a squirrel that lives on mountains in the western United States. In California, it often is found at 6,500 to 11,800 feet (2,000–3,600 m) in meadows between Lake Tahoe and Kings Canyon. This species is not of conservation concern, and its range includes some protected areas. The Belding's ground squirrel is medium-sized with "a relatively short tail, short limbs, and small ears". It has a gray pelage become more cinnamon at the underside and reddish-brown on the back. Its body length is 230 to 300 millimetres (9.1–11.8 in). The tail is 44 to 76 millimetres (1.7–3.0 in) and is bushy but also flattened. The distal hairs of the tail have three color bands, one black, one white and one red. On average, the ground squirrel weighs 290 grams (0.64 lb). Its feet are covered in little to no hair. Compared to other ground squirrel species, its cheek pouches are moderate in size. Being native to the northwestern United States, the Belding's ground squirrel ranges covers northeastern Oregon and part of Washington, north California, southwestern Idaho, north and central Nevada and northwestern Utah. The ground squirrel prefers to live at higher altitudes, occurring in alpine and subalpine meadows. It is also found in sagebrush flats, brush/grass habitats and cultivated areas. The grounds squirrels are largely restricted to open areas with enough fresh vegetation and water. They do not live in dense forests, tall grasses, rocky slopes or thick shrubbery as they cannot watch for predators. In addition they do not prefer grass that is too short as they cannot hide from predators. Belding's ground squirrels have a largely herbivorous diet. However they will also eat insects, carrion, other vertebrates, and even other conspecifics. They mostly eat flowers and seeds. They also eat nuts, grains, roots, bulbs, mushrooms and green vegetation. Belding's ground squirrels do not keep food in caches. Instead they store fat reserves. As such, the ground squirrels may eat a great amount of food before hibernation. They must spend as much as 40% of the summer eating. When eating, the ground squirrel feeds itself with its front paws while standing on its back paws.