Friday, July 23, 2010

13-Lined Ground Squirrel

I saw a new critter! I saw a new critter! As you might have guessed by the title of the post, this little fella's a 13-Lined Ground Squirrel!Yesterday's new critter was just an ordinary turkey. Many of you have already heard of those guys, usually as part of a great meal. But I bet most of you haven't heard of this little squirrel.

Well, I have barely heard of these squirrels myself. But there was something I remembered after I saw this one. There were some posts over at My Quality Day awhile back that featured 13-Lined Ground Squirrels. I didn't give a direct link to the posts on purpose. Go and dig around the blog for a bit to find them. You'll find some other good stuff along the way.

Anyway, at first glance many of you might think this little animal is a chipmunk, and so did I. He really does look very similar, and they're about the same size. Very small, you could fit him in just one hand. But there are a few tip offs. First of all, his snout is flatter than a chipmunk's pointy little face. His stripes are also different. This ground squirrel has more stripes than a chipmunk. And he has dots between the stripes. But wait, there's more!

I mentioned the shape of his face. His face resembles a groundhog more than it does a chipmunk. In fact, his whole head looks more like that of a groundhog, which is much much bigger; bigger than a cat. Of course, since this little dude is, well, little, that means he's much cuter than a groundhog.

When I first found him he stared at me for what seemed like half of forever. Maybe he had never seen one of me before either. A guy dressed in a giant white rat costume holding a camera really is a rare thing I guess. And I think the only pictures of me belong to a fox squirrel named Flynn who says he's going to show the world, but has yet to do so.

After looking at me and any other thing that took his interest, the little 13-lined ground squirrel finally went back to snuffling around in the grass. He's so small that when he hunched down I couldn't see him over the short mown grass. These little guys are supposed to be a little bigger than chipmunks, but this one looked smaller.

That post on the left of the picture is a four by four sign post. That should show you how small this little beastie actually is. If you look closely you can see the stripes and dashes on his back. After this picture he disappeared into the grass. He was still there, but too small to see. I had enough pictures, so I let him be.


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23 comments:

  1. Well isn't he a cute little thing. I've never heard of one of these. So glad you spotted him so that we could get a look at a new critter.

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  2. Wonderful, I was not familiar this squirrel and am very impressed that you have encountered one. Seems as if they are common to mid west of US and central Canada, so I assume you are on the eastern edge of their territory. Nice!

    Bill:www.wildramblings.com

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  3. I have never heard of this critter much less seen one. Learned something new today...which is always a good thing.

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  4. Cool encounter with the 13-lined ground squirrel! He looked pretty curious.

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  5. I've seen them and thought they were strangely colored chipmunks. Thanks for info.

    FWIW, after reading and commenting on your blog yesterday, Sylvia and I went to meet our older son for lunch. About a half mile from here, we watched two hen turkeys and six chicks cross our dirt road as we sat still waiting for them to complete their crossing.

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  6. Oh, Ratty! You found one of my little friends! I think they are SO adorable. They act more like prairie dogs 'cause they are ground squirrels, with that sit up and hold the pose stare at you thing. They seem to think they are invisible when they hold still. And to some predators, they are. I'm happy for you!

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  7. Ratipedia offers another new critter again.

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  8. oh, you are so good in identifying their kind like Sharkbytes, wish I could too.

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  9. We called them squinnies when I was a kid, but can find no reference to them. Shooting photos in a cemetery I was amazed over three days to see a kestrel swope down on these poor guys and basically eat their guts.Nice post Ratty!

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  10. Wow! I have never heard of those kind of squirrels! They are so cute!! I wonder why there aren't any around here? Now I'll have to search and read about them. Thanks Ratty! I'm glad you got to see him!!!

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  11. Wow, he really is tiny. Barely a mouthful.

    Oops, sorry.

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  12. Flynn if you are reading this please post the photo in question and expose Ratty. Thanks in advance.

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  13. You totally cracked me up with your white jumpsuit joke. :)
    And I was noticing the dots and lines you mentioned in that last photo too! I've never seen one of these little guys except in photos. Maybe someday...

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  14. This is great, Ratty that you can tell the different, and the critter stayed around for your shots..Beautiful photos.

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  15. Hello, this is an off-topic comment;) but I can't resist myself, I love your blog can I include this in my blogroll?

    Many thanks, and looking forward for more of your posts;)

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  16. Oh he's a cutie and I never knew anything about these little creatures. Thanks for the info.

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  17. oh how lovely to find out about a species I had never heard of...I thought it was a groundhog from the photo so was pleased to be corrected.... I wonder if you will come across him again with some of his friends?!

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  18. You managed to get close to him as you never before! His face so adorable :)

    Of course he can't help to stare at a giant white rat pointing a camera at him and trying to take over the world..

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  19. @ Mga Kwentong ma Alamat
    You may include this or any of my blogs in your blogroll if you wish. You should unhide your Blogger profile so I can see your blog. Maybe I would like it as much as you like mine.

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  20. What a sweet little critter....bigger than a hamster, though...but so neat with his little stripes. He's hard to spot in that grass but, of course, Ratty, with his super eyes manages to sleuth out everything.

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  21. You got some really great shots of this little critter Ratty, he is adorable. I have heard of this species but so far I have only seen photos.

    Flynn hasn't shown your photo to the world yet but he has posted it on the Squirrel's Nest discussion board (only squirrely members may view)!!!!!

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