Latest Ground squirrels Stories
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Prairie dogs pull up stakes and look for a new place to live when all their close kin have disappeared from their home territory--a striking pattern of dispersal that has not been observed for any other species. This is according to a new study published in Science by behavioral ecologist John Hoogland, Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory. He has been studying the ecology...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online For a species of Rocky Mountain ground squirrel, climate change is causing a late wake-up call from hibernation and the effect is deadly. Examining data on a population of Columbian ground squirrels, a University of Alberta-led international research team found a trend of late spring snow falls has delayed the animals' emergence from hibernation by 10 days over the last 20 years. "Columbian ground squirrels are on a tight...
Duncraft customers watch and feed squirrels almost as much as they do the birds! And Duncraft has a wide selection of foods and feeders specifically for squirrels. Feeding squirrels away from bird feeders, also known as diversion feeding, is an effective and enjoyable way for Duncraft customers to enjoy both squirrels and birds. Concord, NH (PRWEB) August 09, 2012 Duncraft customers watch and feed squirrels almost as much as they do the birds! And Duncraft has a wide selection of foods...
Discovery puts scientists closer to human applicationHibernation is an essential survival strategy for some animals and scientists have long thought it could also hold promise for human survival. But how hibernation works is largely unknown. Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have successfully induced hibernation at will, showing how the process is initiated. Their research is published in the July 26 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.A hibernating animal has a reduced heart...
Prairie dogs, once abundant in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, have been decimated in recent decades by plague "“ a virulent bacterial disease spread by fleas.Plague outbreaks periodically sweep through large prairie dog towns with thousands of inhabitants, killing virtually the entire population within months. Other prairie dogs move in and build a new colony, which eventually is wiped out when the disease returns.This pattern of re-colonization followed by devastation can occur over...
Researchers from the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) have demonstrated, using a map of the potential distribution, the alpine marmot's capacity for adaptation in the fields of the Pyrenees. Its quick proliferation makes it a successful example of species introduction.At the end of the Pleistocene (10,000 years ago), the increase in temperatures brought an end to the alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) in the...
WELLINGTON, Colo., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The endangered black-footed ferrets inhabit prairie dog towns in the western U.S. This rare carnivore feeds on prairie dogs. The prairie dogs are very susceptible to plague and often entire population die-offs in towns occur. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has implemented a ferret breeding program and has been releasing trained, captive ferrets into their formerly native habitat. Unfortunately, plague can sweep through and decimate...
An environmental group released a report on Monday suggesting prairie dogs are being threatened across the West due to habitat loss, shooting and poisoning, the Associated Press reported.North America's five species of prairie dogs have lost more than 90 percent of their historical range, according to the WildEarth Guardians report.The report graded three federal land management agencies and a dozen states on their actions over the past year to protect prairie dogs and their habitat.Arizona...
By Gary Bogue It definitely feels like fall. Dear Gary: I moved to beautiful Dana Hills, in Clayton, 15 years ago, in order to be next to open space at the base of our majestic Mount Diablo. I treasure the bountiful flora, fauna and assorted beasts here, and I cherish the opportunity for harmonious co-existence, side-by-side, with Nature. I'd like to think most people who reside here have a similar appreciation and respect for wildlife. We're blessed with a wide range of wild birds,...
By CHET BROKAW INTERIOR, S.D. -- On the grasslands a few miles from the pinnacles and spires of Badlands National Park, federal wildlife officials have been waging a war since spring to save one of the country's largest colonies of endangered black-footed ferrets. The deadly disease sylvatic plague was discovered in May in a huge prairie dog town in the Conata Basin. The black-tailed prairie dog is the main prey of ferrets, and the disease quickly killed up to a third of the area's 290...
Latest Ground squirrels Reference Libraries
Franklin’s ground squirrel (Poliocitellus franklinii) is native to the northern area of the United States and Canada, inhabiting tall grasses on the American prairie. Joseph Sabine who named it after Sir John Franklin, a British Arctic explorer, first described this squirrel in 1822. Previously, it was classified in the Spermophilus genus, within its own subgenus. However, genetic testing showed that it belonged in a different genus because it was paraphyletic, and so it was placed in...
The spotted ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus spilosoma) is native to west and central United States and south and central Mexico. Its United States range includes Nebraska, South Dakota, western Texas, western Kansas, eastern Arizona and most of New Mexico. Its preferred habitat includes deep, sandy soil with limited vegetation. It can be found in burrows within sand hills, and may occupy abandoned prairie dog burrows. The burrows can also be found on mesas with short grass, or along...
The Mojave ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus mohavensis) is native only to the Mojave Desert in California. Frank Stephens discovered this squirrel in 1886. Its range includes areas of Inyo, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Kern counties. It can be found in Joshua tree woodlands, saltbush scrub, Mojave mixed woody scrub, and saltbush scrub. The preferred habitat of the Mojave ground squirrel contains abundant forage like spiny hopsage and winterfat, which allows the squirrels to live...
The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is native to the United States, occurring in the Great Plains to both the border of Canada and Mexico. Its range includes areas in Mexico, but no longer includes Arizona. This species was one of two prairie dog species to be described by Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. It prefers a habitat within grasslands, but their habitat choices do depend on soil type, rainfall, slope angles, and vegetation cover. The black-tailed prairie...
The Mexican prairie dog (Cynomys mexicanus) is a rodent that is native to Mexico. It is related to squirrels and chipmunks. These prairie dogs prefer to burrow in soil without rocks on plains, and can live at altitudes between 5,250 and 7,200 feet. Its northern range includes San Luis Potosi and its southern range includes areas of Coahuila. The Mexican prairie dog can reach an average body length of up to seventeen inches, and an average weight of 2.2 pounds. The overall fur color is...
