Piute Ground Squirrel
Urocitellus mollis
Summary 3
The Piute ground squirrel (Urocitellus mollis) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. Piute Ground Squirrels are adapted to desert life. They feed on a variety of leaves, stems, roots, bulbs, flowers, and seeds, and will also eat insects and carrion. When it is hottest, around midday, they forage in the shade or use their burrows to rest and cool off. They close the entrance to the burrow each evening with a plug of soil. The best way to distinguish them from other diurnal ground squirrels in the region by the pale brownish-gray color, absence of stripes, and inconspicuous tail and ear (figure 1). The Piute ground squirrel has a body range of length between 201-233 mm, and a weight range of 82-205 g. This species can be found in the north western portion of Iron County, Utah (figure 2). In the field it will be difficult to distinguish between the Piute ground squirrel and other ground squirrels, the best way is by the brownish-gray coloring, and whether you are in their region, which is fairly small in comparison to other ground squirrels. Tracks and scat will not be good ways to distinguish between species because of their similarities to other ground squirrel species.
Sources and Credits
- (c) sohzendeh, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by sohzendeh, https://picasaweb.google.com/102611087159208870022/MassachusettsToWashingtonApril29May242012#5812907763657916178
- (c) Zachary Eric Mathews, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zachary Eric Mathews
- Adapted by Zachary Eric Mathews from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urocitellus_mollis
