Chipmunks, Squirrels, and Prairie
Dogs
Uinta Ground Squirrel
Spermophilus
armatus
Description
Brownish to buff above; sides paler;
belly buff. Tail buff mixed with black above and below, with
pinkish-buff edge. Head, front of face, and ears cinnamon, with
grayish dappling on top of head; sides of face and neck gray.
Forelegs and forefeet buff; hindlegs cinnamon; hindfeet buff. L
11–11 7/8" (280–303 mm); T 2 1/2–3 1/8" (63–81 mm); HF 1 5/8–1 3/4"
(42–46 mm); Wt 10–15 oz (284–425 g).
Similar Species
Richardson’s Ground Squirrel’s
tail is clay-colored, buff, or light brownish below. Townsend’s
Ground Squirrel usually has shorter tail that is reddish or tawny
below. Belding’s Ground Squirrel has brown streak down
back.
Breeding
1 litter per year, born in May after
28-day gestation. First-year females bear an average of 4 or 5
young, older females 6 or 7. Young emerge from burrow in 24
days.
Sign
Burrow entrances.
Habitat
Dry sage and sage grass; also
lawns.
Range
Southwestern Montana, e Idaho, w Wyoming,
and nc Utah.
Discussion
The Uinta Ground Squirrel both
estivates (becomes dormant in summer) and hibernates. Adults begin
estivation in July, juveniles later; by September, all individuals
have disappeared. From estivation, they directly enter the long
hibernation. In Utah, adult males emerge first, in late March to
mid-April, and remain active only about 3 1/2 months before
reentering their sleep cycles. These ground squirrels eat seeds,
green vegetation, invertebrates, and some vertebrates. The American
Badger appears to be the major predator of this and several other
ground squirrels.
Chipmunks, Squirrels, and Prairie
Dogs