Franklin's Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus franklinii)

Franklin's Ground Squirrel in Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park, Lac La Biche
Photograph by Alberto Cea. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

FRANKLIN'S GROUND SQUIRREL FACTS

Description
Franklin's ground squirrel is a fairly large ground squirrel with a slender body. The fur is short and brownish greyish with speckled appearance. The head and tail are grayish. The ears are short and rounded. The tail is bushy.

Size
Total Length: 35cm - 41cm. Tail length: 12cm - 16cm. Weight 340g to 950 g.

Environment
tallgrass prairie, preferring grassy areas at the edge of woodland

Food
Franklin's Ground Squirrel eats leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, cultivated crops. They also eat some insects, small birds, mice, birds eggs.

Breeding
5-10 young (average 7) are born after a gestation period of 28 days. The young are hairless and blind at birth and are weaned after about 40 days.

Range
Franklin's Ground Squirrel are found from Ontario and Manitoba in Canada, through to North Dakota and Kansas in the US

Conservation Status
The conservation status in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is "vulnerable".

Classification

Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Genus:	Spermophilus
Species:	franklinii
Common Name:	Franklin's Ground Squirrel

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