They don’t carry the antidote to the venom in their blood and often fall victim to rattlesnakes.Īdult ground squirrels sometimes protect baby squirrels by covering them in snakeskin and masking their scent. As a result, snake bites don’t affect them. This is because these ground squirrels have evolved to become immune to the venom of a rattlesnake. A mature California ground squirrel can defend itself against a snake attack. I was reading through some of the research that’s been done on them and these incredible facts about ground squirrels will certainly make you look at them in a VERY different light: Ground Squirrel Fact #1: They Can Take on Rattlesnakes… And Win! They may not look like much, but ground squirrels are actually pretty interesting creatures. Unlike tree squirrels, many species of ground squirrels hibernate to make it through the winter. Their fur texture can vary and it could be thin and rough or soft and thick. Most ground squirrels also have stripes and spots on their skin. The color of their fur can vary quite widely and it can be grey, pale brown, tawny, olive, reddish brown or dark brown. They have short legs and a tail of moderate length. Ground squirrels are active during the day and sleep at night. Ground squirrels are different from chipmunks as well. However, by that definition, you end up including species like Prairie Dogs, Groundhogs and other marmots in the count. Technically, any squirrel that lives in burrows in the ground is a ground squirrel. The folks over at Encyclopedia Britannica say there are 62 different ground squirrel species but it is tricky to get an exact count. 2.5 Ground Squirrel Fact #5: They Can Murder Their Competition What are Ground Squirrels?īelonging to the Sciuridae family of rodents, the ground squirrel is a type of a squirrel that lives on the ground and inside burrows.
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