Belding's Ground Squirrel

activity

Activity patterns. Belding’s Ground Squirrel is a diurnal squirrel in which males hibernate alone and females hibernate in groups. Hibernation of adult males lasts ¢. 280 days at higher elevations but is shorter at lower elevations. It can be a nuisance near gardens and is considered a pest around cultivated crops and on some rangelands.

Sciuridae

biology_ecology

Habitat. Grassy meadows, sagebrush (Artemisia, Asteraceae) communities, or the ecotone of these two ecosystems, in alpine and subalpine zones. The preferred habitat of Belding’s Ground Squirrel includes open mesic vegetation, often with a nearby water source. It will heavily use agricultural field and rangelands when available.

Sciuridae

biology_ecology

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Belding’s Ground Squirrel lives in colonies in which density can vary from 1 - 2 ind / ha to 304 ind / ha. Females and their female kin defend small territories around burrow until young are weaned. Females are philopatric, whereas juvenile males disperse. Natal dispersal, as well as related behavior that helps these squirrels prepare for dispersal, appears to be controlled by body condition (fat content) and mass, and it may be influenced by endogenous hormonal cues. Juveniles regularly engage in play behavior. Infanticide is common in the Belding’s Ground Squirrel and can account for ¢. 30 % of all juvenile mortalities, and it is most commonly committed by yearling males (for food) and by adult females soon after moving to a new colony. Alarm calling is common and is used to warn kin. A short whistle is associated with higher risks and fast predators, and causes neighbors to retreat to their burrows. A long trill evokes heightened vigilance. Young Belding’s Ground Squirrels can discriminate between alarm calls within five days of emergence. It produces scents from both oral and dorsal apocrine glands that are used for identification

Sciuridae

breeding

Breeding. Belding’s Ground Squirrel inhabits burrows with a vegetation-lined nest chamber in which young are born. Males emerge in early spring and are reproductively active for about a month. Females emerge 1 - 2 weeks after males, become sexually active within five days, and breeding season lasts for c ¢. 2 weeks. Although mating season lasts a few weeks, individual females are receptive for only up to six hours on a single day. Copulation occurs aboveground, and multiple paternities ofsingle litters appears common. Gestation lasts 23 - 28 daysafter which a single annuallitter of 5 - 8 - 7 - 4 young for adults and 4 - 8 young for yearlings is born.

Sciuridae