California ground squirrel

The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California Peninsula. Its range covers much of California and reaches northeastern Nevada around Reno and Lake Tahoe. It was named for Frederick William Beechey, an early nineteenth century British explorer and naval officer, and it was formerly placed in the genus Spermophilus until a reclassification in 2009. The upper parts are mottled gray, light brown and dusky, with a whitish ring around the eyes, and the bushy tail can make it look like a fox squirrel at a quick glance. Head and body are about 30 centimetres long, with a further 15 centimetres of tail, and adults weigh from 280 to 738 grams. It digs its own burrows, some of them shared, and rarely strays more than about 50 metres from them. In colder parts of its range it hibernates for months, and in hot spells it may estivate. It eats mostly seeds, grains, nuts and fruits, plus insects, and is preyed on by rattlesnakes, eagles, foxes, badgers and weasels. Adults use tail-waving and heated tails to deter rattlesnakes.