Fun Mohave Ground Squirrel Facts For Kids

The Mohave ground squirrel is a member of the desert wildlife. The population is mostly restricted towards the home range arid and the Mediterranean area of North America.

The desert contains the habitat of woodland areas of the Joshua trees and several kinds of scrubs in California. The scrubs and the forage plants of the wildlife help the species with adequate and necessary water and nutrition.

The Mohave ground squirrels face existential crisis due to situations like droughts and hence are most likely to find a habitat with an adequate water supply and food.

The populations of the squirrels are seen to multiply mostly during the rainy season since the squirrels are most likely to breed during this time. The diet for the species includes seeds, fruits, small plants, and caterpillars during the breeding season.

During hibernation, they build up their fat reserves and there is a drop in the body temperature. The hibernation is most likely to break during the months of February and March.

If you like this, you might want to know about white-tailed antelope squirrel and feathertail glider.

Mohave Ground Squirrel Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Mohave ground squirrel?

The Mohave ground squirrel is a squirrel. Being a member of the Sciuridae family the Mohave ground squirrels have the Xerospermophilus genus.

What class of animal does a Mohave ground squirrel belong to?

The Mohave ground squirrel belongs to the Mammalia class of animals. The squirrel is a subfamily member of the Xeriane and belongs to the Marmotini tribe. The squirrels have the order of Rodentia and have the Chordata phylum.

How many Mohave ground squirrels are there in the world?

The Mohave ground squirrel listing status indicates the species to be under the Near Threatened category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

Even though the species are Threatened, there are populations of around 100,000 individuals currently residing on the planet because of the activated Endangered Species Act.

There is a noticeable increase and decrease in the populations of the squirrel during the rainy season which makes it difficult to calculate whether the species were present during the drought and the exact population of the dead squirrels during the drought.

Where does a Mohave ground squirrel live?

The Mohave ground squirrel range map includes the desert and the open areas of North America. The mammalian species home range includes the western Mojave Desert which consists of certain parts of Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles. Apart from this then the home range has the counties like the Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

What is a Mohave ground squirrel's habitat?

The Mohave ground squirrel habitat majorly includes the northern and western Mohave Desert of California. The Mohave ground squirrel ecosystem constitutes the open areas and the Mediterranean forests belts of North America.

The scrub is present throughout this area over the sandy and gravelly soil. This area is suitable for the squirrels to make burrows since the soil is mostly crumbled and favors the animals to make the burrows.

Who do Mohave ground squirrels live with?

The Mohave ground squirrels are mostly solitary animals and are spotted living alone. During the breeding periods, they are seen mating with multiple squirrels making them polygamous in nature.

How long does a Mohave ground squirrel live?

The Mohave ground squirrels have an average lifespan of around five to seven and half years in the wildlife area of California. Although when kept in captivity for conservation purposes, they tend to live a longer and healthier life.

How do they reproduce?

The Mohave ground squirrels are known to be polygamous in nature which indicates that the male ground squirrels tend to mate with multiple female squirrels during the breeding season.

The females remain dormant for over two weeks in extra in comparison to the male squirrels. During this period of dormancy, the male squirrels defend a burrow or few burrows among the Joshua trees to mate with the females.

The reproduction period for the species continues till February where the males emerge first and reach the breeding ground followed by the females at the end of February or the beginning of March in California.

Hence, the breeding season lasts during the months of February and March where the gestation period continues up to four weeks or around 27-30 days. During the end of March or beginning of April, the female gives birth to four to nine young are born feeding on food seeds, fruits, small plants, and caterpillars.

When the young are born, they do not have a proper vision or sense of hearing with only a few patches of hair on the head.

After the reproduction process, the mother nurtures the young for around 30-32 days after birth.

The males acquire sexual maturity by the time they turn two while the females attain sexual maturity within a year of their birth. The young seem to come out from the burrows during the end of May or the beginning of June.

During the breeding season, the Mohave ground squirrel threats include coyotes, falcons, hawks, and ground snakes.

What is their conservation status?

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the Mohave ground squirrels are listed under the Near Threatened category. Due to excessive housing and unbearable drought condition, there has been a decreasing trend in their population.

To recover from this a conservation strategy was adopted under the California Endangered Species Act including the installation of the burrow. Currently, there is a population of more than 100,000 squirrels is present in the world.

Mohave Ground Squirrel Fun Facts

What do Mohave ground squirrels look like?

The Mohave ground squirrel is a small squirrel of the arid Mojave desert region with a distinctive tail. These species live in a burrow and the body is brownish in color. The entire body is covered with brownish-gray fur while the belly has white fur.

The species have prominent white rings around the eyes. The body end with a distinctive brown tail. The tail has brown fur and the coat is firm in comparison to the tail of other ground squirrels residing in California.

How cute are they?

Needless to say, these species are extremely cute beings of the desert wildlife. They are small and the basic coloration makes them look very sober.

How do they communicate?

The Mohave ground squirrel vocalization is mostly high-pitched. Being high-pitched, the Mohave ground squirrel produces an alarm-like sound similar to a 'peep'. This sound is similar to a Mohave ground squirrel threatened or startled or when a young are born in a burrow.

How big is a Mohave ground squirrel?

An average species has a weight of around 2.9-4.6 oz (85-130 g) and a length of around 8.3-9.1 in (21-23 cm). They are smaller than a red squirrel.

How fast can a Mohave ground squirrel run?

The exact speed of the species is not known as of now.

How much does a Mohave ground squirrel weigh?

The squirrels have a weight of around 2.9-4.6 oz (85-130 g) on average.

What are the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name assigned to the males and the females of the species. They are generally referred to as the sex that the individuals belong to.

What would you call a baby Mohave ground squirrel?

The baby Mohave squirrel is generally referred to as a young, kitten, or pup.

What do they eat?

The Mohave ground squirrel diet is that of an omnivorous. Being an omnivore in nature the Mohave ground squirrel food includes the seeds and the scrub of the Joshua tree along with the forbs and fruits available in the desert wildlife. The diet includes caterpillars on some occasions as well.

Are they dangerous?

There is no information about the squirrels being dangerous to humans or to other creatures.

Would they make a good pet?

Being a member of the wildlife and their home range being the desert it is advised to not keep the squirrels as a pet.

Did you know...

The burrow of a squirrel is around 216.5 ft (5.5 m) in depth.

It is not exactly known how the Mohave ground squirrel got their name. However, the term 'squirrel' is taken from the Greek word 'skiouros' which basically refers to a 'shadow tail'.

There are four teeth in the frontal area of the mouth of a squirrel that always keeps on growing.

What role does the Mohave ground squirrel play in the ecosystem?

The Mohave ground squirrel role includes spreading the seeds of the Joshua tree in the Mojave desert which helps in the aeration of the soil.

Are Mohave ground squirrels endangered?

No, they are not endangered. The species are listed as Near Threatened and necessary acts are introduced to create more burrows and space for them to survive and thrive.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these gopher facts and ground squirrel facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable squirrel coloring pages.

Image one by Howcheng.

Image two by Nikodem Nijaki.

*We've been unable to source an image of Mohave ground squirrel and have used an image of California ground squirrel instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of the Mohave ground squirrel, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.