Fun Piute Ground Squirrel Facts For Kids

The Piute Ground Squirrel is a species of squirrel, belonging to the Sciuridae family, which is found in the western range of the United States, like, the Oregon region, in Nevada, Idaho, California, Utah, and New York. They have a variety of habitats like grassland, the desert, cropland, and shrubland.

They are also seen finding their habitats in railroad embankments, abandoned farmlands, and canals. These animals are usually herbivores and their diet consists of leaves, bulbs, roots, flowers,  seeds, and crops. They make burrow with multiple entrances, which are around six feet deep.

They use high-pitched sounds to communicate with each other inside the burrow. They use this place to escape the summer heat and the harshest of winter.

In the month of spring, the males become active around one or two weeks above the ground. The females give birth to around 5-10 young ones after the gestation period of 24 days.

These mammals have fur that ranges from pale brown to grey color. They have white fur underneath. They have a bi-colored short tail.

They do not have any stripes or spots on their body and they can be easily recognized by their small ears. These animals have the status of Least Concern under the IUCN Red List.

If you like this article on Piute Ground Squirrel, check out these other articles on water vole facts and field vole facts.

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Piute Ground Squirrel Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Piute Ground Squirrel?

Piute Ground Squirrels are a kind of squirrel.

What class of animal does a Piute Ground Squirrel belong to?

These animals belong to the class called Mammalia.

How many Piute Ground Squirrels are there in the world?

The exact number of these squirrels is not recorded.

Where does a Piute Ground Squirrel live?

This species of squirrels live in grassland, desert, shrubland, and hedgerow.

What is a Piute Ground Squirrel's habitat?

These squirrels have several habitats. They are found in the Great Basin region of the western part of the United States. They range in several regions of Idaho, California, areas in Nevada, Utah, Oregon, and Washington.

Who do Piute Ground Squirrels live with?

These mammals live in a group or in colonies.

How long does a Piute Ground Squirrel live?

This species of squirrels live for about five years of age.

How do they reproduce?

The ground squirrel species mates in the late winter season or in the early days of Spring. After mating for near about 24 days, the females give birth to 5-10 litter.

What is their conservation status?

These animals have the Least Concern status given by the IUCN Red List. Since these ground squirrels are abundant in number, no such conservation measures have been taken for protecting these animals.

Piute Ground Squirrel Fun Facts

What do Piute Ground Squirrels look like?

This species of Piute Ground Squirrels, Urocitellus mollis, have pale brown-colored fur on their back. They have white fur on their belly and a bi-colored tail which is around 2 in (5 cm) long. They do not have stripes or spots on their body and have small, unnoticeable ears.

How cute are they?

These ground squirrels are adorable to look at. Their shiny black eyes and small hind and forelimbs make them adorable to look at.

How do they communicate?

The ground squirrels' species communicate with each other by producing a range of different sounds. Some of the individuals produce one note whereas others may produce several. The Piute Ground Squirrels produce high-pitched sounds inside their burrows. The reason behind this isn't exactly clear. They may use this tactic to confuse predators during an attack.

How big is a Piute Ground Squirrel?

These adult squirrels are about 7 in (17.7 cm) in length.

How fast can a Piute Ground Squirrel move?

Their speed has not been recorded yet.

How much does a Piute Ground Squirrel weigh?

These ground squirrels weigh around 11.4 oz (325 g).

What are their male and female names of the species?

Specific names haven't been allotted to the males and females of this species.

What would you call a baby Piute Ground Squirrel?

Baby Piute Ground Squirrels are called litter.

What do they eat?

These ground squirrels are usually herbivorous in nature. They eat a variety of roots, crops, seeds, bulbs, flowers, leaves, exotic annuals, and insects. Their food habits change with the season.

After the hibernation period, ground squirrels feed exclusively on green leaves, herbs, and grass. When the leafy crops dry and produce seeds, these animals switch to grains, nuts, and seeds. They begin to store them in their burrows.

Are they poisonous?

These animals are not poisonous but they cause a lot of harm to agricultural lands and are considered a common pest. Hence, these animals are often killed by various pest control techniques like feeding them with toxins, fumigation of their burrows with poisonous gas.

Would they make a good pet?

This species of ground squirrels are hibernating animals and it is advisable to not keep them as pets. Although these animals look cute, they may at times show aggression which makes them unsafe for children as pets.

Did you know...

The species of Piute Ground Squirrel are known to make burrows in well-drained soil. These animals also seek refuge in railroad embankments, abandoned farmlands, and so on.

The burrow these squirrels make is around 6 ft deep and has several entrances around its range. They use these places to escape the summer heat and also the extreme cold weather. Males become active earlier than females during the spring season.

The density of these ground squirrel populations is higher where there are more shrubs and Sandberg bluegrass, also known as Poa Secunda.

In the year 2002, there was a drastic decrease in their population, they were not seen much above ground. Further investigation proved that these animals were not exposed to plagues.

It was believed that these mammals experience seasonal torpor due to the early draught in the Spring. When their population was studied, it was observed that these animals have reproduced in this year, and some young ones survived through the winter.

These mammals have several habitats that include several parts of grassland, desert, agricultural lands, and shrublands areas with higher shrub density.

Behavior and temperament

Occasional aggression is seen in these species of animals. Infanticide is a common phenomenon among ground squirrels.  It contributes to the significant loss of young squirrels in their community.

Comparisons with similar animals

Unlike the Piute Ground Squirrel, Gophers do not live in large communities and they hardly come above the ground. Whereas, ground squirrels are very active during the day.

Chipmunks are occasionally seen feeding on newly hatched baby birds, their diet is omnivorous in nature. Ground squirrels and gophers are usually herbivorous in nature. The burrows made by chipmunks are around 11 ft deep, whereas the burrows made by a ground squirrel is only 6 ft deep.

Chipmunks also have black stripes along their body, whereas a ground squirrel has no such stripes or spots. Gophers have a smaller set of eyes than Piute Ground Squirrel and Chipmunk.

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 Eurasian wolf facts and bandicoot facts.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our Piute ground squirrel coloring pages.