The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus), also known as the striped gopher, leopard ground squirrel, or a squinney in parts of Iowa, and as the leopard-spermophile in Audubon’s day, is a brownish ground squirrel with 13 alternating brown and whitish longitudinal lines (sometimes partially broken into spots) on back and sides creating rows of whitish spots within dark lines.
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel is the names...
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The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus), also known as the striped gopher, leopard ground squirrel, or a squinney in parts of Iowa, and as the leopard-spermophile in Audubon’s day, is a brownish ground squirrel with 13 alternating brown and whitish longitudinal lines (sometimes partially broken into spots) on back and sides creating rows of whitish spots within dark lines.
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel is the namesake of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers teams, and responsible for Minnesota's nickname as the Gopher State.
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel is strictly diurnal and is especially active on warm days. A solitary or only somewhat colonial hibernator, it often occurs in aggregations in suitable habitats.
In late summer, it puts on a heavy layer of fat and stores some food in its burrow. It enters its nest in October (some adults retire much earlier), rolls into a stiff ball, and decreases its respiration from between 100 and 200...
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