Sciuridae
Spermophilus tridecemlineatus
(thirteen-lined ground squirrel)

Image Caption:
A thirteen-lined ground squirrel adds grass to his newly dug nesting burrow, to make sleeping and later, hibernation, more comfortable  In a study, Desha excavated fourteen nesting burrows and found that the nest is an average of twenty centimeters below the surface, with the greatest depth of forty centimeters (1966, p. 409).  Not all burrows, however, are used for nesting.  In his study, fifty of the sixty four burrows excavated did not have a nest, and were merley used for hiding (1966, p. 409).

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Spermophilus tridecemlineatus (Thirteen-lined ground squirrel) Surveying Surroundings
Works Cited:

Desha, P. G.  (1966). Observations on the Burrow Utilization of the Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel.  The Southwestern Naturalist.  11: 408-410.
Image Location: United States, South Dakota, Oaklake State Park
Image Date: 2009AUG12
Image Species: Spermophilus tridecemlineatus tridecemlineatus

 Web Page and Picture By Peter Leitheiser
Updated: 2009AUG13