Species: Spermophilus beecheyi
California Ground Squirrel
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Sciuridae
Genus
Spermophilus
NatureServe
Classification
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Rodents
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae - Spermophilus
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Omnivorous. During spring and summer, feeds primarily on green vegetation: leaves, flowers, bulbs, roots, etc. In late summer and fall, may eat more seeds, berries, and nuts. Also eats insects and occasional small vertebrates, including young conspecifics (done mainly by breeding adult females).
Reproduction Comments
Breeding occurs soon after hibernation. Gestation lasts 25-30 days. Litter size averages about 6-7. In the lowlands, females usually produce one litter per year. The young are born hairless and their eyes are closed; they remain underground for about 8 weeks. In central Calfornia, young began to emerge from burrows in late April or early May (Boellstorff and Owings 1995).
Ecology Comments
Usually in loose colonies. About 1/3 to 3/4 of a population consists of yearlings (see Boellstorff and Owings 1995). May carry fleas that transmit sylvatic plague. Predators include dogs, coyotes, and large hawks. Home range usually is less than 50 m across (Burt and Grossenheider 1964). In west-central California, mean home range size was 300-400 sq m in males, 600-900 sq m in females; home ranges overlapped (Boellstorff and Owings 1995).
Length
50
Weight
738
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-06
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-06
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?US.CA=SNR&US.NV=S5&US.OR=S5&US.WA=S4" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
South-central Washington south through California and extreme west-central Nevada to Baja California, Mexico.