Richardson’s Ground Squirrel, Oak Hammock Marsh MB

I grew up calling these “gophers,” but they are, apparently, Richardson’s ground squirrels, about which there are many interesting facts.

Odd that I don’t feel about them the way I feel about tree squirrels: maybe because I’m not affected by their depredations in the same way.

Maybe because I think of them as gophers. A squirrel by any other name is more tolerable.

Richardson's ground squirrel poking head out of hole

Oak Hammock Marsh is a conservation area near Selkirk MB.

 

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4 Responses to Richardson’s Ground Squirrel, Oak Hammock Marsh MB

  1. Jim Robertson says:

    When I moved out west, I was told they were “prairie dogs”…
    Not sure if that is a cut above or below “gopher” or “ground squirrel”.

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Jim R – Nor I, but it’s interesting that no one other than a biologist sees that critter and thinks “squirrel.”

  2. Barry Jewell says:

    Are you implying some biologists are squirrely?

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Barry – I was not so implying, but now that you mention it . . . . I wonder how we came to attribute some animal names to human characteristics or behaviours: squirrelly, goosey, chicken, wolf-ish, and so on.

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