Belding's ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi), also called pot gut, sage rat or picket-pin, is a squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

 that lives on mountains in the western

Western United States

.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

 United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In California, it often is found at 6,500–11,800 feet (2000–3700 m) in meadows between Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

 and Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park is a National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers...

. This species is not of conservation concern, and its range includes some protected areas.

Physical description

The Belding’s ground squirrel is medium sized with relatively short limbs, a short tail and small ears. It has a gray pelage that grades to cinnamon vertically and reddish-brown dorsally. From head to tail it is 230-300mm. The tail itself is 44-76mm 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 g. Its feet are either bare or sparely haired. The internal cheek pouches are moderately sized compared with other ground squirrels.

Range and habitat

Being native to the northwestern United States, the Belding’s ground squirrel ranges from northeastern Oregon and part of Washington, south to central California, southwestern Idaho, north and central Nevada and into the extreme northwestern Utah. The ground squirrel prefers to live at higher altitudes, occurring in alpine and subalpine meadows. It is also found in sagebrush flats, mixed brush and grass habitats and agricultural fields and pastures. The grounds squirrels are largely limited to open areas and prefer to live around succulent vegetation and water. They do not live in dense forests, tall grasses, rocky slopes or thick shrubbery as they can’t watch for predators. In addition they do not prefer grass that is too short as they can’t hide from predators.

Food and feeding

Belding’s ground squirrels are primarily herbivorous. However they will also eat insects, carrion, other vertebrates, and even other conspecifics. Flowers and seeds make up most of their diet. 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 most spend as much of 40% of the summer eating. When eating, the ground squirrel feeds itself with its front paws while stand on its back paws.

Hibernation

Belding’s ground squirrels hibernate at different times, depending on the sex and age of the individual and the altitude of their environment. Adult males go into hibernation between late July and early September when at higher altitudes. Females may follow them in late September, depending on the elevation. Juveniles follow their parent into hibernation with juvenile females first going when they are 13 weeks old and males when they are 10 weeks old. They enter when the grass begins to dry and turn brown. This way they can avoid the hot, dry end of the summer.

The ground squirrels hibernate in burrow chambers called hibernacula. Males tend to hibernate alone while females tend to hibernate together. The time in which ground squirrel emerge from their hibernation also depends on different factors. At lower elevations, males emerge in February while at higher elevations, they emerge at the end of April. Female emergence is spread over several weeks.

Activities

Belding’s ground squirrels leave their burrows at sunrise. The first squirrel to enter the surface will stay at the burrow entrance until there are enough following squirrels above ground to watch for predators. The squirrels then move farther from the burrows. Most activity occurs in the morning with digging and feeding. Squirrel activity tends to decrease when the temperature increases. Much of the day is spend stretched out on rocks or on the ground getting warmth from the sun. They will also maintain burrows and groom each other. When the young are above ground they will engage in play. The ground squirrels will go back into their burrows in the afternoon. Juveniles enter later than adults.

Family relations

Belding’s ground squirrels live in a nepotistic society where most interactions occur between females and their offspring and kin. It seems that cooperation between individuals correlates with their degree of relatedness. Ground squirrels recognize their kin by comparing their phenotypes with these of squirrels they encounter. These phenotypes come in the form of scent though dorsal and anal glands that leave a "pungent" odor in the dust bathing areas. Each squirrel has its own repertoire of scents that others can use to recognize it. If an individual’s phenotype matches, it may be a relative. A female may also use her sister’s phenotype as a basis for determining the relatedness of unfamiliar females. Recognizing their relatives is important for female Belding’s ground squirrels. This allows them to know who to act nepotistic towards when defending nests or territories or when making alarm calls. Related females will also, at times, share food and shelter. Adult males do not display nepotistic behavior and are nomadic between seasons. Although many ground squirrels live in colonies, there is little social interaction between them and it is mostly agonistic.

Alarm calls

Belding’s ground squirrels are prey for various predators such as coyotes, bobcats, weasels, eagles and badgers. Ground squirrels will also perceive humans, livestock and cars as threats. Ground squirrels have two specific alarm calls used to warn others of predators. One call, known as the churr call or the trill, is made of a series of more than five notes given rapidly. These calls are given for predators that pose less immediate threats, usually terrestrial predators. Individuals that are close to the alarm caller will respond by standing on their back legs (posting), running on a rock to get a better view of the predator or by returning to their core area.

Another alarm call is known as the whistle, which is a single high-pitched note. This call is made in response to immediate threats, usually aerial ones. All individuals in hearing range will exhibit evasive behavior such as crouching or fleeing into the nearest shelter. When running from aerial predators, squirrels call while escaping. By contrast, when running from terrestrial predators, escaping squirrels don’t call until they make it to safety. In addition, with aerial predators, all squirrels will call while with terrestrial predators, only females with kin will call. The squirrel that first sounds the alarm posts while calling, looking at the predator and will not try to hide.

Reproduction and parenting

For Belding’s ground squirrels mating occurs after hibernation, usually in late May to early June. The ground squirrels mate promiscuously, as both males and females mate with multiple partners. Females are sexually receptive for less than five hours each year. Thus when a female is receptive, the males immediately gather around her. They will fight viciously to gain access, grappling, kicking, scratching, and biting each other. Larger, older, and stronger males are more likely to mate. A single female can mate with as many as five males during her estrous; this increases the chance of pregnancy, and also increases genetic diversity.

Females give birth to one litter a year. Pregnant females will dig nesting burrows and gather grass and grass roots to make nests. Nesting-only territories are established around these burrows. Females protect the burrows against intruding unrelated conspecifics by attacking and chasing them. Defense of the territories lasts until the young are weaned. The gestation period of the ground squirrel lasts 23-31 days and young are born late June to early July. Litter sizes range from 3-8 young. Females do all the parenting for the young as males disperse directly after mating. In their first few weeks of life, the pups are raised underground in the nesting burrow. They first emerge from the burrows in July and early August, at least in higher elevations, and are weaned at 27 days old. At first, the young stay near the entrance to the burrow but start to explore on their third day. Males disperse from their natal burrow after they are weaned and continue to disperse after they breed successfully. The male that mates the most moves farther away from the colony he mated in. Females rarely disperse from their natal burrows. Infanticide

Infanticide (zoology)

In animals, infanticide involves the killing of young offspring by a mature animal of its own species, and is studied in zoology, specifically in the field of ethology. Ovicide is the analogous destruction of eggs. Although human infanticide has been widely studied, the practice has been observed...

 is known to occur in Belding’s ground squirrels. An intruding squirrel will drag a squealing, squirming juvenile out of the nest burrow, and promptly kill it by biting its head. The killer will also sometimes eat the carcass. Adult females and yearling males are more often the killers. The perpetrators of infanticide do not reside in the same area as the victim. Females never kill their relatives and they will help their kin in protecting their young from infanticide.

Taxonomy

Belding's ground squirrel was first described by Clinton Hart Merriam

Clinton Hart Merriam

Clinton Hart Merriam was an American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist and ethnographer.Known as "Hart" to his friends, Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855. His father, Clinton Levi Merriam, was a U.S. congressman. He studied biology and anatomy at Yale University and...

in 1888, as Spermophilus beldingi. Three subspecies are now generally recognized:

• U. b. beldingi (Merriam, 1888)
• U. b. creber Hall, 1940
• U. b. oregonus (Merriam, 1898)