Columbian ground squirrel

The squeaking, upright little rodent standing outside its burrow in every open meadow at Glacier, and the animal you are most certain to see there.

  • Head up, watching for hawks. This is the posture that goes with the chirp.Yathin S Krishnappa
  • The rust-orange nose and chest, and no stripes on the face, separate it from a chipmunk.Yathin S Krishnappa

Columbian ground squirrel at a glance

Urocitellus columbianus koh-LUM-bee-un; Urocitellus columbianus is yoo-roh-sih-TELL-us koh-lum-bee-AY-nus

Type
Mammal · rodent
Diet
Herbivore
Size
Head and body about as long as a school ruler, 10 to 12 inches, plus a bushy tail another 3 to 5 inches. An average adult weighs more than a pound, so a little heavier than a full water bottle.
Conservation
Not listed as threatened. The Montana Natural Heritage Program ranks it G5 globally and S5 in Montana, common across many habitats and facing no known threats.

Eats grasses, leafy plants, bulbs, fruits, seeds

It eats grasses, leafy plants, and bulbs in early summer, then shifts toward fruits and seeds as the season goes on, with a small amount of insects and carrion mixed in (Montana Field Guide).

Should you worry?

Harmless, and that is the problem. These squirrels will walk right up to a picnic table at Logan Pass because people have fed them. Human food makes them sick and teaches them to beg near roads and parking lots, where they get hit. Keep the snack in the bag, keep your hands to yourself, and watch them do their own job instead.

Stand still in the meadow at Logan Pass and wait. Somewhere out in the grass a small brown shape is standing straight up on its back legs, watching you. Then it chirps: one shrill note, more like a bird than a rodent. Watch what happens next, because that is the part worth the wait. Other squirrels you had not even noticed pop up, freeze, and drop into holes. The meadow empties in about two seconds.

That chirp is an alarm call, and it is doing a real job. NPS describes the Columbian ground squirrel as having a well-developed colonial social structure, which is a formal way of saying they live packed together and they watch out for each other. The list of things worth warning about is specific: long-tailed weasels, hawks, coyotes, and grizzly bears. You are on the list too, not because you are dangerous but because you are large and you are moving.

So test it. Pick a spot, hold still until the meadow forgets about you and the squirrels come back up, and then move one arm. Count how many heads turn before the first chirp, and how far the wave of chirps travels across the grass. You are watching a warning system that has no wires in it.

Up close, this is a chunky animal, head and body about as long as a school ruler with a bushy tail behind, and an average adult weighs more than a pound. The nose, forelegs, and hindquarters are rust-orange; the back is mottled gray and brown. No stripes across the face, which is what tells it apart from a chipmunk in one second. Through early summer it eats grasses, leafy plants, and bulbs, then moves on to fruits and seeds later in the season.

The one thing you can do to wreck all of this is feed one. They will come close. At a picnic table at Logan Pass they will come very close, because people have already trained them. Human food makes them sick, and a squirrel that learns to beg spends its time near cars instead of near its burrow. Keep the snack in the bag. Glacier’s rangers went as far as writing the animal a sing-along song, which includes the line “This squirrel has a call like a bird. In Glacier, it’s commonly heard.” Sit down, stay quiet, and let it be heard.

Did you know?

  • NPS puts it plainly: in the summer, most people find it difficult to visit Glacier and not see one of these rodents. Expect them in any open area, standing guard outside their dens, and squeaking at you loudly.
  • The squeak is an alarm call, and some of it is aimed at you. One squirrel chirps, the colony drops into its holes. NPS lists its predators as long-tailed weasels, hawks, coyotes, and grizzly bears.
  • Glacier's rangers wrote it a song. The park education page has a sing-along with the line 'This squirrel has a call like a bird. In Glacier, it's commonly heard.'

Common questions

Why is it squeaking at me?

Because you are big and you are moving. The chirp is an alarm call meant for the other squirrels, and a person walking up the trail counts as something worth warning about.

Is it the same as a chipmunk?

No. A chipmunk is smaller and has bold stripes running across its face. A Columbian ground squirrel has no face stripes, a rust-orange nose, chest, and legs, and a gray-brown mottled back.

Can I feed one?

No. Human food makes them sick, and a squirrel that learns to beg starts hanging around parking lots and roads, where it gets run over. Feeding one is how you get it killed.

Where will I see one at Glacier?

Almost any open ground, and Logan Pass is close to a sure thing. Look for a small upright shape standing at the mouth of a hole, and listen for the chirp.

Where it lives

Where we got this