Description ⁷

The European ground squirrel is about the size of a brown rat, with an adult measuring 20 to 23 cm (8 to 9 in) and a weight of 240 to 340 g (8.5 to 12.0 oz). It has a slender build with a short bushy tail. The short dense fur is yellowish-grey, tinged with red, with a few indistinct pale and dark spots on the back. The underside is pale with a sandy-coloured abdomen. The large dark eyes are placed high on the head and the small, rounded ears are hidden in the fur. The dental formula is 1/1, 0/0, 2/1, 3/3. The legs are powerful with sharp claws well adapted for digging. Males are slightly larger than females otherwise they look alike.

The European ground squirrel has a shrill alarm call that will cause all other individuals in the vicinity to dive for cover. It also makes various soft chirruping and growling noises.

The European ground squirrel could be confused with the speckled ground squirrel which occurs in Poland (Lublin Voivodeship), Romania, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, but that species has dark brown fur spotted with white and a thin tail and lives in areas with coarser vegetation.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Aleksandar, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Aleksandar
2. (c) Klaus Rassinger, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spermophilus_citellus_03_MWNH_760.jpg
3. (c) Klaus Rassinger, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spermophilus_citellus_01_MWNH_760.jpg
4. (c) Klaus Rassinger, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spermophilus_citellus_02_MWNH_760.jpg
5. (c) Jozefsu, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Souslik_(Spermophilus_citellus)_hole,_abandoned,_late_autumn.jpg
6. (c) Nikolam993, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spermophilus_citellus1.jpg
7. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_ground_squirrel

More Info

• iNat taxon page
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