Species: Spermophilus beecheyi

California Ground Squirrel
Species
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Mammalia

    Order

    Rodentia

    Family

    Sciuridae

    Genus

    Spermophilus

    Classification
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Rodents
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae - Spermophilus
    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
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    1996-11-06
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-11-06
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    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.
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103839