Family: Sciuridae, Squirrels view all from this family
Description A small ground squirrel. Plain gray above, with pinkish tinge; belly whitish or buff. Short tail reddish or tawny below, with white edge. Face and hindlegs reddish. L 6 5/8–10 3/4" (167–271 mm); T 1 1/4–2 7/8" (32–72 mm); HF 1 1/8–1 1/2" (29–38 mm); Wt 4 1/2–11 1/2 oz (128–325 g).
Similar Species Belding’s Ground Squirrel has brown streak down back. Uinta Ground Squirrel is more brownish; tail buff mixed with black above and below. Richardson’s Ground Squirrel is gray tinged with brown or buff above. Columbian Ground Squirrel is more blackish above. All four are larger. Washington Ground Squirrel has indistinct flecking on back and has black-tipped tail.
Breeding 1 litter per year of 4–10 young, born by mid-March. Newborn is about 2" (50 mm) long and weighs about 1/8 oz (3.7 g).
Habitat Primarily arid desert with open sagebrush, shad scale, or greasewood communities; one population in wc Idaho and ec Oregon occurs in a fertile river bottom.
Range South-central Washington, e Oregon, s Idaho, extreme ne California, most of Nevada, and w Utah.
Discussion In June or July, Townsend’s Ground Squirrel begins an estivation that continues right into winter hibernation, which ends in early spring, depending on locality. The squirrels emerge in late January or early February, breeding soon after. The young are abroad by mid-April, when half-grown. Seeds of grasses and other plants and green plant parts are the preferred foods of this squirrel, which often climbs into bushes. These animals sometimes form large colonies, yet they are not very social. Each adult digs two burrows—a small one in the feeding area, evidently used as an escape hatch if predators approach, and a much bigger home burrow that is at least 50 feet (15 m) long and up to 6 feet (2 m) deep. Diggings often extend from the sagebrush flats where the animals forage onto nearby rock ridges. Townsend’s Ground Squirrels have single and multi-note aboveground calls and also emit faint, high-pitched calls while underground or partially so. They often fall prey to American Badgers.
