Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
The nineteen species of ground squirrel that inhabit North America have a variety of ways of coping with the challenges of day to day life. One of those species, the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, is found in a variety of habitats in the American West, including mountains, meadows, and even sagebrush flats. Often mistaken for a chipmunk, they differ from their smaller counterparts in several ways. While the chipmunk may weigh in at around two ounces, the ground squirrel may weigh as much as 14 ounces. Both have stripes along their sides but these do not continue onto the face on the ground squirrel. Instead, it has a buffy eye ring.
Its diet is varied, but being something of a gourmet, it also dines on fungi which grow underground. These are located by smell and can then be transported back to their nest in cheek pouches, which enables them to be able to run at full speed without having to hold on to their precious cargo. On a less healthful note, they have also learned to beg for junk food from the humans, who seem to be easy targets at local campgrounds.
While it perhaps should not be considered an act of altruism, the Golden-mantled will offer alarm calls to warn others of the same species of danger. Doing so, of course, places the individual in greater personal danger as the predator’s attention may be drawn to the caller. This may be thought of as simply a means of species survival; or it may demonstrate an act of caring about something other than self. To arrive at valid conclusions is never an easy thing. But Albert Einstein seems to be on the right track. He once said, “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.”