California Ground Squirrel

The California ground squirrel is found in western Southern California and northwestern Baja California, most of central and northern California, western Oregon and a sliver of southwestern Washington and mid-western Nevada. The head is brown, the body is brown flecked with white or buff, the sides of the neck and shoulder are whitish, there is a dark triangle on the back between the shoulders, the hair around the eyes is whitish, around the ears is black and the tails are rather bushy for a gound squirrel. The underside is a lighter grayish or buff. The squirrel below was photographed in Round Valley near Mount San Jacinto.

A different view of the ground squirrel.

Their home range is less than 150 yards and they can live up to about five years in the wild. The squirrel below was photographed in Yosemite National Park near the top of Nevada Falls.

The California ground squirrel below was photographed in the Yosemite Valley near the bottom of Nevada Falls on a very warm day, approaching 100 degrees. I loved the fact that it was splayed out on a rock trying to get cool.