Little ground squirrel

The little ground squirrel, also called the little souslik (Spermophilus pygmaeus), is a small burrowing rodent of the squirrel family that lives on the steppes and semi-deserts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, from Ukraine and European Russia east to the Aral Sea region of Kazakhstan and to Dagestan. It has a stout, low-slung body with short legs, a brownish grey back mottled with ochre and yellow, a darker head and a pale-tipped tail. It is active by day, lives in colonies built around the territories of adult females, and digs permanent burrows for hibernation and breeding as well as temporary shelters. Its old burrow mounds, called souslikovina, serve as lookout posts. It eats green vegetation, roots and seeds, may be active for only 80 to 100 days a year, and its range has shrunk in recent decades, probably linked to wetter weather and less grazing.