ground squirrels
Prairie dog relatives
Ground squirrels are burrowing rodents related to tree squirrels but living primarily on or under the ground rather than in trees.
The term covers many species across North America, including prairie dogs and chipmunks.
They dig extensive tunnel systems and often live in colonies: Ground squirrels have taken over the back field.
- chipmunksSmall striped burrowing rodents
- marmotsLarge burrowing squirrel relatives
- fossorial behaviorAdapted for digging underground
- prairie dogsBurrowing plains rodents
- rodentsGnawing mammal order
hibernation · gopher · cheek pouches · food storage · burrow · tunnel system · alarm calls · danger signal · Sciuridae · seed dispersal · torpor · estivation · incisors · caching · acorns · nuts · foraging · alert
- rodentsmouse, rat, guinea pig, mice, beaver
- alpine meadowswildflower fields, wildflower bloom, grasses, buttercups, columbines
- ground dwellersants, moles, earthworms, groundhogs, gophers
- pest controlinsecticide, rat trap, pesticide, mousetrap, exterminator
- desertsSahara, Gobi, Mojave, Namib, Kalahari
- forest floorfallen leaves, leaf litter, dead leaves, rotting wood, rotting logs
ground, underground, grounds, squirrel, squirrels, aboveground, ground squirrel