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California ground squirrel
Otospermophilus beecheyi
37.1903, -120.822
Field Notes
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.
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